


When Everything Stays

by PBaswellasJam



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe- Mystery, DON'T SHIP REAL PEOPLE, Evil Xisuma - Freeform, Fluff and Angst, Non-Human Humanoids, Wormman - Freeform, but also bittersweet soon, every Hermitcraft member, get ready for plenty of fluff, haha i swear its mostly fluff not just angst, helsknight - Freeform, most chapters are just fluff though, no direct shipping, plenty of friendships and antics, warnings are put before chapters!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:21:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27620627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PBaswellasJam/pseuds/PBaswellasJam
Summary: Far away in an undisclosed space, an Academy stands tall.Called MCYT where children flee to find their potential, find their call.Where mysteries consume their days and bonds will ever grow.You'll ever stay at MCYT, till you notice what you know.
Comments: 18
Kudos: 28





	1. First Day Fables and Talking Tables

Another year begins for the students of MCYT, a small boarding school in the middle of nowhere for the creative and inventive. The kids mostly all know each other, but the new year brings new classmates and teachers, so the kids are rather excited to see who will and won't be in their class. TFC is excited too, as much as he was glad to get a break from teaching over the summer, he really enjoyed having kids around. Most of the kids from this year have already been in his class, but there’s also plenty of newer faces. Though school is for years 6-12, though it’s small enough that grades 6-8 and 9-12 share classes. TFC looks at the students walking in and sitting at their desks, the grade nine students and a few who are new to his class just standing around confused.

“There’s no assigned seats, go ahead and sit where you like.” he says, watching them awkwardly go and introduce themselves. Seeing that everyone’s found a spot, he speaks up to the class, 

“Everyone, I have an announcement to make! This year I'm starting a Mystery solving club, and though it’s not required I highly suggest joining. It will replace some of your class time and work, and you’ll get extra credit for joining. You can solve any mystery you like so long as you’re actually working on something. And to sweeten the deal, cookies for anyone who joins. So who’s in?“

The entire class raises their hand, some more hesitant than others, but he wasn’t really surprised. If extra credit and less school time wasn’t already enough to win them over then there’s no way they could refuse cookies. Bribery truly is the best way to deal with kids. As he hands out the cookies to each of the kids, Xisuma says,

“This sounds great and all, but what mysteries are even out there?” Tango jumps in and says

“Well, does anyone actually know what the school’s name stands for? I’ve been going here for 4 years now and nobody seems to know.”

“Yeah, I mean I’ve been going here since grade 6, and there’s never been any yearbooks or school history or anything. I mean, unless you count all the ghost stories and everything.” 

“Oh hush Doc, you’ll scare the 9th graders. I’m sure the school isn’t haunted, it’s probably just the dorms that are.” Bdubs snickers. Grian stands up and points at them, saying

“Jokes on you! I’m grade nine and I’m 40% sure the school isn’t haunted so ha!.” The NHO just smiles at him, Etho saying

“Well then why don’t we find out? Whoever finds the most info out by the end of the year should get a prize or something!”

“A scholarship?” Joe pipes up, joking but still hopeful

“Whoa, uh, maybe I could get you extra credit and maybe some food from a local restaurant for lunch?” TFC answers with hesitation 

“A guaranteed A in the class of your choice and a class pizza party? That sounds great!” Cleo jumps in. The whole class cheers as TFC realises he can’t say no.

“Hey hey! No promises!” he says, knowing that only makes them more excited.

“So TFC, what do you know about the school? When did you become a teacher here?” Wels asked

“look kid, I’m not even sure I was actually born. I just showed up one day and that was that. I’ve been working at this school for as long as I can remember.” TFC mumbles. 

“Huh that’s weird. Does your family show any patterns of memory loss such as alzhiemers-” 

“Enough Doc, very funny. I’m doing fine. Anyways, this school’s as much of a mystery to me as it is you, so please tell me if you find anything interesting because i’m curious too.” The class starts talking among themselves, excited to figure out more and asking each other what they know. Scar raises his hand and says

“If we’re all trying to find out as much as we can, we should work together! Some people are probably gonna be better at certain things anyways, so we should talk with others on whatever we’re working on at the moment. That way we can get more perspectives!” The hermits all grin and look at their friends, glad they can work together, and Mumbo adds on 

“Well if different people are better at different things, we should figure out what just so it’s a bit more efficient! Maybe some people can do more research, try to find school records and stuff, some can ask a bunch of other students and teachers what they know, and some can explore the school and just see what they can find! And you know, everyone can switch between doing all of these but if there’s a system then not everybody will be trying to do the same thing at the same time or anything.” 

“Yeah, that sounds like it’ll work. Go ahead and just talk to your friends about what you need to, and try to look at different stuff like Mumbo said. I’ll be here if you need me, go ahead and do what you need!” TFC agrees.

\-------------------------------

Later

\-------------------------------

Cub had been looking into the school’s history, trying to see if anyone remembered their old report cards with dates on them or any school newsletters. So far he hadn’t had much luck, only a few glares when he asked about the grade cards. He thought he could maybe look up records in the library, so he went and started looking through the shelves. He couldn’t find much, and he was about to ask the librarian for some help when he noticed a frantic Scar waving him over to a table. 

“What’s up?” he says, sitting down by him.

“Cub, I know this is gonna sound crazy but I heard a table talk!!” he nervously chitters

“A- a table? Are you sure? Are you having a low blood sugar moment?” 

“No! I’m completely serious! Come on I’ll show you!” Scar stands up a bit too quickly, losing his balance for a second before grabbing onto a chair. He then speedily walks over to another table. He looks at Cub in the eyes, sits down in the seat by the table, and says

“Hi! I was the guy who dropped the sandwich? Also my friend is here too.” to which, surprisingly, a voice coming from the wood replied.

“Oh yeah! Thanks for that, it was delicious. Hi!” in a sunny tone.

“Wait- you’re talking? I mean, are you… a ghost?” Cub stutters, half shocked

“I mean I don’t think I’m a ghost, I haven’t died. But I also can’t leave the table, so that’s kind of not fun.” The two just looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

“Are you ok?” Scar questions 

“Oh that’s nice of you to ask. I mean, sometimes I feel like my friends don’t like me as much as they like each other, but they also keep telling me how much they like having me there so it’s probably fine.”

“I...uh…there, there, bud.” Cub says having only more questions than before. 

“I mean, do you want to leave the table? We could try to help?”

“Oh lord yes please get me out of here, it’s nice and quiet but also really boring.” 

“Ok, great! Now, how do we do that.” 

After a few hours or so of flipping through piles upon piles of books on folklore and curses, chanting very broken latin, and lighting a large array of candles they let out a defeated sigh.

“Man, I'm sorry Mr. table. I’m just not sure how to help you.”

“Aww. Well, I mean that was fun but you could just help me untangle my shirt from the wood beams.”

“Wait, what?”

“Oh yeah, I got stuck when I dropped my notebook under the table and crawled under to get it. I got the book, but now I can’t move because my shirt got caught and I couldn’t remove it.” 

“So… you’re not a table spirit?”

“I don't know… maybe I am!!” Upon hearing this, they drop to the floor and look under the table to see a scrawny boy in a multicolored sweater.

“Hi!” he says, grinning. They help untangle him, finally getting out and watching him bang his head on the side as he gets up.

“Thanks for helping me, you guys are the best! I’ll never forget you sandwich and sandwich friend!”

“Wait, what’s your real name?”

“Oh, I’m Karl! Karl Jacobs. See you later!” And he just walks away.

They had finally gotten back to the classroom just in time to see TFC yelling “ You can leave now! Please leave now I have a headache- go to your dorms or wherever you kids go.” with a giant pile of old papers on his desk.

As the kids flooded out, they all split up into smaller groups once they had reached the halls, chatting amongst one another as they learned who would be their roommates. It didn’t take long for Cub and Scar to spot Joe and Bdubs off to the side talking to one another, stopping to quickly wave the two over. 

“Turns out we’re together, roomies!” Joe says, pointing at the list. 

As they walked to their dorm they shared stories of what had taken place on their first day [Cub and Scar’s being the funniest] and chatted about what they had planned to do and how they hoped the next few days would go. As they approached their dorm they waved to their classmates as they passed by. Joe stopped in front of the door and turned to the group. 

“My fellow acquaintances, it is my pleasure to reveal our new quarters.” Joe bowed slightly before dramatically pushing the door open and letting the others in as they all laughed at the poet’s antics. After they had all looked around the dorm and claimed beds, the four met up around the small living space and discussed what they had both found and learned. Bdubs had gone around asking some of the teachers and older students questions only to get a few vague replies from a few teachers, and nothing from the students other than the occasional rumor. Joe had gone out and looked for some book made back when the school was presumably made, only to return empty handed other than a book of short stories he had gotten for his own reading pleasure. With a small hum of disappointment, they concluded that they had found nothing that could help, at least not at the time. They split up, Joe staying in the living room saying something about his “nightly readings” and the rest of them heading off to bed despite it only being the evening. 

As Cub laid in bed his mind went over the events of the day, they were confusing and gave no hint as to what the answer might have been, but for now he was tired and would think about that in the morning, after all tomorrow is another day.


	2. Cyberdogs and Sincerity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whose fur is that? I think I know.  
> Its owner is quite nervous though.  
> It really is a tale of woe,  
> I watch him frown. I cry "Hallo."
> 
> Don't worry, things go mostly sweet  
> the hidden truth you may not meet  
> though all in fur and all in fear  
> there's a gentle friend, a listening ear

*Warning: fantasy-influenced representation of overstimulation, cut-off implied swears*

It had been a rather uneventful morning for the hermits, classes went by like they had any other year seeing as there had been no new cases for them. It had only been one day so they were waiting for people to actually respond to the flyers. As they walked into the cafeteria for lunch, word was going around that Zed and Tango were throwing a “new year” sleepover in their dorm (albeit without Impulse knowing) and plenty of the hermits were excited to go. Ren was talking to his roomates about this, trying to see who would be going and who was planning to just stay in the dorm.  
“I’m totally gonna go! It’s gonna be amazing! And Mumbo’s coming too!” Grian excitedly exclaimed, clapping a hand onto Mumbos back.  
“I am??” He asked, the confusion clear in his voice.  
“Iskall, you should go too!” Ren said, hoping the others couldn’t pick up the hint of worry in his voice.  
“Nah, it’s only the second day, I’m still getting used to our dorm and I really don’t need all the excitement at the moment. I’m good to stay and chill.” He said, leaning back in his chair and kicking his feet up onto the table.  
Ren nervously fidgets with his sleeves as Grian asks  
“Hey, Ren will you be going? It’d be a ton of fun!”  
“Um, no. I… uh I’m just not gonna go.”  
“Aww why not? “ Grian whines.  
Ren shifts uncomfortably in his chair  
“Ehh reasons. Nothing much really! Just not up to it today I guess. Uh, also Iskall could I talk to ya? Uh sorry guys but I wanna ask something.” He asks, clearly trying to come off as normal, but slightly off.  
Mumbo shrugs and turns to Grian.  
“Ok. Come on, we can talk to Tango and Zed about the details.”  
“Ok!” He happily says, moving on within an instant.  
“So, what’s up?” Iskall says to him, a little worried but mostly calm.  
“Um, can you go to that party please? As a favor?”  
“Dude, why? I mean, I guess I can but I mean, what has you so tense?”  
Ren sits there silently for a minute, awkwardly playing with his food.  
“Uhm, well I guess I should say something. I mean, If I tell you I'd appreciate it if you wouldn’t say anything to the other guys. Or like, anyone.”  
“Oh uh, it’s one of those reasons. Don’t worry, I won’t tell. What’s the matter?” Consern clear in his voice now.  
“Uhm, so… it’s… a very difficult time of the month for me at the moment and I don’t really like people being around me when it happens-” He said tugging at his sleeves as he avoided eye contact.  
“Dude, do you get periods or something-?”  
“Nonononono! I'm just a feral monster that can rip human flesh. A werewolf.” He rambled out in a single breath.  
“Oh ok.” Iskall says surprisingly calm.  
“That...was easier than I expected. And you’re not… freaking out or anything?”  
“Oh nah! I’ve seen your tail and ears and stuff so I’m not super surprised. I mean, I never thought I’d met a lycanthrope but I’ve met plenty of part animal humanoids and-” Ren quickly cut off Iskalls rambling.  
“Uh dude it’s not like that.”  
“Oh! Sorry, didn’t mean to assume.”  
“You’re good dude, but I’m pretty sure you don’t know...pretty much anything about lycans.”  
“I mean, I’ve read fictional books? Yeah, I can see where I went wrong here.” He laughs apologetically,  
“So, it’s the full moon tonight and I’m gonna transform. Basically, I’m really worried about what I might do. With animal humanoids they can transform at will to any amount of either spices, but I can’t control myself. I’m always mostly human and some wolf and when the moon happens I'm always mostly wolf and some human. That’s why I like to call myself a dog! I’m...domesticated. Y’know, nice. I honestly have no clue what happens when I do transform though, never really been around humanoids that weren’t also werewolves when it happened. All I know is when I wake up I’ve trashed the place, and we suddenly don’t have any more meat.”  
“ Dude, well now I’ve got to stay. I can help you, and if not then I can at least tell you what happened!” Iskall says, concern clear in their voice.  
Ren nervously laughs,  
“But I mean, what if I’m evil or something? It’s… always kinda been a stereotype that we’re...violent. I don’t want anything to go wrong.” Iskall looks to Ren and smiles at him, raising his hands up  
“I mean, Ren. How long have you been going to this school? And how much has happened? Ren, how have you even been keeping it secret for so long??” Iskall asked  
“I mean, no things haven't gone wrong. Not yet. But I also didn’t leave the room and was alone. And uh, I’m good at secrets. I may or may not have told Tango and Zed how hilarious it would be if someone came to their dorm to find a sleepover happening as a surprise party. I just do stuff like that. People listen, you’ve just gotta know what to say.” Ren says with a sly smile. Iskall gasps,  
“You sly dog! Jeez I knew you were smart but- hey wait do you do this to me?” Iskall suspiciously asks. Ren laughs, quickly moving on.  
“Ok, I guess you can stay but only if you promise to leave if anything goes wrong. And to uh… lock the door. I really don’t want anyone else to see.”  
“Ok! Come on Ren, we’ll have our own little sleepover. Also, I’m sorry you had to hide that for so long, I’m just glad I can be there for you.” Iskall says, sincerely giving Ren a small pat on the shoulder.  
Ren smiles and looks to the ground,  
“Hey, thanks. I’m glad too.” He looks up, and walks over to Mumbo and Grian, Iskall following.  
“Yeah, we’re not coming to the party. I hope you guys have a fun time though!” Ren says. Grian smiles,  
“ Ok. Just don’t trash the room or anything while we’re away.” he says with a small laugh. Iskall and Ren trade a look and laugh out of politeness as well.

\------------------------------- 

It’s nine o'clock, when the students are supposed to be in their dorms and most students are just hanging out or rushing to the zits room. Iskall however, -is being lectured by a very pensive Rendog on when the moon rises and not to be alarmed at what may happen during the transformation.  
“The moon rises at approximately 9:48, so most students should be sleeping at that point. I don’t know how loud it will be, I usually just hold a pillow to my face until it happens.”  
“Jeez dude, this sounds terrible.You’ve been muffling yourself? I’m just glad you’re not alone now.”  
“Yeah, I’d rather not talk about this. Anyways, I have some granola bars I got if we get hungry. No meat, definitely don’t have meat. I don’t even eat meat the day of or before, I get cravings for it and ugh. It makes me nervous.”  
“Dude, all dogs and wolves like meat. You could just be overthinking, don’t worry yourself.”  
“I mean probably. But hope for the best, plan for the worst. Y’know what I mean.”  
“Hey, Ren. How about we play uno. Just hang out.” he says. Ren sighs, letting himself become relaxed. He smiles and says  
“Ok. Yeah, I’m just gonna distract myself.”  
They play uno and share quite a few laughs, Iskall somehow winning almost every time. As it comes to 9:40 Ren says  
“This game is rigged! What are you even doing? Did you shuffle the cards in a certain way??” Iskall laughs,  
“Nah. This is pure skill.”  
“Yeah, pure skill my a-”  
Ren suddenly notices his arm turning brown, slowly growing fur and his vision blurs a bit.  
“Oh. I think it’s happening.” he says, somehow no longer seeming nervous, but a bit loopy Instead.  
“Oh, uh, are you… good?” Iskall says, nervously watching as his friend becomes more canine, yet still quite recognizable. His human figure didn’t change, Iskall feeling relieved that the books he read about bones snapping in place and changing form seemed to be only fiction, but his face changed slightly to vaguely resemble a snout. He had fur, and his hands changed shape a bit as his nails grew. But mostly, he could see Ren. His face shape and eyes were the same, with the ponytail just as long, and the same smile. And he was smiling! He looked up to Iskall and smiled, wagging his tail, and sitting in the same very un-animalistic criss cross way that he just had been.  
“...Ren? Hi?” He says, setting down his cards and giving him a little caucus smile. Ren beamed back brighter, wagging his tail more at the sound of his name.  
“Oh thank God. You’re… kind of you. Can you speak?” He asks, curiously looking over Ren to see how he would reply if at all. However, he doesn’t. He doesn’t try to mime anything either, but he does get up and pick up the granola bar.  
“Oh! Food. Here, I'll get that wrapper for you. “ Iskall says, motioning to the bar. Ren looks at him, looks to the bar, and then walks over to a corner and tries to bite at the wrapper himself.  
“Oh boy. So it’s like that.” Iskall says, shaking his head a bit. He picks up another one, and unwraps it easily. Ren turns and sees it, with a face of shock. He looks at his paper stuck to the granola and only little bits taken out, and walks over to Iskall with an expecting face.  
“Ha, so now you want my help.” He laughs.  
“Well ok. But what are you gonna do with that one?” He says, pointing at the mangled breakfast bar in his hand. Ren looks at it, seriously thinks for a bit, and then walks over to the trash can and chucks it in.  
“ Well aren't you smart! How’d you trash the place then, or did you just need a little prompting to clean up a bit?” Iskall jokes. Ren just walks up to him and holds his hand out. Iskall gives him the granola bar, and he finishes it in about two seconds.  
“Jeez, have I just signed up for babysitting? “ He laughs. Ren glares at him, and he says  
“Oh! Sorry, no offence. How much can you understand me?” he asked. Ren just looks at him, and lets out a small  
“Ruff.”  
Iskall grins and tries to not let out a laugh, failing pretty bad considering having heard his friend yip.  
“I- so you bark.” he says, giggling a bit. Ren ignores him, looking at the lights and making a face. He goes to his bed and grabs a blanket, pulling it over his head and sitting down.  
“What, is it too bright?” Iskall says, half to himself. Ren nods, pulling the blanket tighter.  
“Oh! “ He says, going over and turning them off. He turned on a desk lamp afterwards, so that there was just enough light to get around. Ren took the blanket off his head and looked at Iskall, confused but grateful.  
“Hey, I’ve got your back! See?” he says, starting to see how things were. He wasn’t some wolfish angry guy who couldn't see consequences, he just couldn't do things quite the way he wanted to. He’d probably trash things in order to try and do what he intends to, but he clearly wants to just do things calmly first.  
“ I don’t suppose you’d be good at uno, how about we do something else?” he says, trying to see what he’d try to suggest. Ren looks around, when suddenly a huge crashing sound comes from across the hall. Ren yips, and there's a muffled  
“I'm not dead!! Sorry about that, just go back to sleep!” that sounds like Skizzleman. Ren starts panicking, breathing fast and running to the nearest corner and throwing the blanket over his head once again.  
“Hey! Are you ok?” Iskall says, watching him curl up and pull the blanket. It starts to rip, and when it does Ren gives a very sad cry, accidentally tearing it further. He leaps up, running into a small table and pushing it over before sitting back down and grabbing the pieces of cloth.  
“Ren!!” Iskall says, a bit louder than intended. He looks to the door, worried someone heard. Ren keeps tearing the sheet further, making even more noise and just making himself more upset.  
“Hey, Hey, here! You can have my blanket! Please don't rip this one- but look, it's new and whole! He says, quickly rushing to give the blanket and take all the pieces away. Suddenly there's a knock at the door.  
“Um, hey! You guys good? I heard you yell after the bookcase fell over, just wanted to check up!” asked a muffled voice that sounded like Impulse  
“Crap. Uh just a second!” he says, scrambling to get things looking semi in order. He opens the door just a crack and says  
“Heyyyyyy Impulse! Yeah, it's all good, it's all good! Uh, Ren’s just uh, lost his voice! And when he heard the crash he accidentally stubbed his toe. Yes. All good! Bye bye!” he says, slowly closing it further.  
“Oh! Well uh, I hate to ask this but would you mind if I hang out? Zed and Tango didn't really tell me about this whole party thing, and as much as I love ‘em it's just a tad too hectic for me.” Impulse nervously laughs. Iskall looks from Impulse to Ren, exasperated a bit.  
“I- as much as I’d love to this isn't really the best time- didnt X stay back? Maybe you could hang with him? Sorry to turn ya down, but It's definitely not calm here if that's what you're looking for.” He says, glad he didn’t have to stretch the truth all that much.  
“Oh. Yeah, I understand. Well, see ya later.” Impulse says, smiling awkwardly. Iskall felt a bit sad turning him down, but as he turned to find Ren chewing on his sunglasses that was quickly forgotten.  
“Hey!! You need those! Here, give it to me!” he whisper-yells, sternly looking at him. Ren looks at him, guiltily, and hands them over to him.  
“Aw jeez, of course you had to bite it. I'll just… put that on your bed I guess. Here, you can have this, uh, oh! Here's a rubber necklace thing! That shouldn't break or bend. Now, you should probably go to bed. Do you want to sleep?” he says, handing him the necklace and grabbing a spare blanket from a chair. Ren points at his pillow, and just slumps to the floor with the blanket over him and necklace in hand.  
“ I suppose that works, just don't chew on this, ok?” Iskall says, handing him the pillow. He grabs his and sets it up across the room.  
“True sleepover style. Well, goodnight.” he says, turning out the lights and finally getting some rest.  
\-------------------

Ren wakes up, moving his hand from his face to see himself on the floor, with a blanket over him. He spots Iskall a few feet away, still asleep and he gets up to wake him.  
“Iskall! Hey, it's 6!”  
“Then why on earth are you waking me.” he grumbles, turning on his side and covering his face with his pillow.  
“Dude, I’m awake.”  
“And so am I now.” he says, still groggy and slightly pissed off.  
“Oh yeah. You're back, congrats. Let me get dressed, we’ll go to the cafe and get some coffee.”  
“Oh yeah, I'm still in yesterday's clothes.” Ren said looking down at himself.  
“Yeah, there was no way in heck that I was gonna get you to put on pjs.” Iskall said letting out a yawn.  
“I- uh, assumed?? So what happened? I mean, you’re not injured or mad at me so that’s a good sign.” Ren chipped in with a bit of relief in his voice.  
“ Oh yeah, I’ll give you the details later but if you run into Impulse or someone, they may think you lost your voice last night and stubbed your toe really bad. So if they say sorry about the crash it's because a bookshelf fell over at zits and startled you.” Iskall said barely batting an eye.  
“Wait, did he come over or anything? Also, lost voice and stubbed toe? Really the best you could come up with?” Ren asked, trying to hold back a soft laugh.  
“Hey, I did my best on the fly! And yeah, he asked to stay too. I made up some lame vague excuse about things being hectic, so be prepared for that. He didn't actually come in or see the place though, don't worry.”  
“Ok, well thanks for covering. And Grian and Mumbo didn't try to come back to get anything?”  
“Nah. I don’t even know what happened at the party- but they haven’t come back yet so I guess it must have been good.”  
They got dressed and headed to the cafeteria, Iskall finally downing some coffee and Ren having some as well. They sat at a table, with the room almost completely empty because of the early hour, and talked about what had happened.  
“So...what did I look like?” Ren asked as he played around with the now empty coffee cup.  
“Actually surprisingly normal. I mean, you had fur and stuff but you still looked like you.”  
“Was that a dig or just honesty-?” Ren says, getting Iskall to laugh.  
“Not like that, you just… had the familiar recogniseable bits of your face and hair. And you moved like you do. It was obviously you, just really...stupid mostly.”  
“Pbht- really? Aw jeez, I wasn't just like a dog or anything,was I? I mean, at least it wasn't bad but… that's a tad embarrassing.” Ren said with a slightly embarrassed smile.  
“I mean, sort of like a dog, but smarter. You still understood me and did basic stuff like grab food and put trash in the trash bin, you just also didn't quite do it as you normally would. You didn't speak or even try to, but you replied with actions, and you tried to do stuff but without doing the basics you need to do the thing. Also, you did a little bark. It was adorable.”  
Ren sputtered.  
“Aw, well sounds dog-ish to me. You said I understood you? How could you tell?”  
“Well, I asked you things and you’d look at me in a certain way- I uh, actually said something to myself about babysitting you and you instantly glared at me, so pretty sentient there.” Iskall chuckled at the memory.  
Ren laughed as well.  
“Ok. Well, thanks for babysitting me I guess. I uh, saw the torn sheets though so... I didn’t get angry or anything, right? And uh, where are my sunglasses?”  
“Oh, uh, about those- You apparently get overstimulated from sound or light really easily and uh, when you panicked you started nervously ripping and biting things. You may need new glasses.”  
“Aw no! I knew I should have put them away!! Aw, it's ok. Well, thanks for being there for me man. I really appreciate it.”  
“No problem! And hey, if you don't mind me asking, why were you so worried? I mean, I know not knowing what you do must be scary, but why were you that convinced it’d be that bad?” Iskall asked, the concern in his voice was obvious yet was still quite calm.  
“Oh. Uhm. Well you know how I said there's that violent stereotype? Well, before I came to this school, I used to live with my parents and brothers, and they were lycans too. My parents were even more animal-like than us though, and they couldn't really hide it. We lived in a somewhat isolated spot because of the safety of others, and also because everyone around us thought werewolves got really evil at the full moon, even if they were nice to us normally. They weren't really mean, just superstitious. Well, mostly. Anyways, I've just always been scared of hurting people, so I guess I kind of have been not so good to myself while trying to make sure of that. I still don't really want to tell people, but I think I shouldn't just keep everything bottled up y’know. Thanks for listening Iskall, not everyone would have.”  
“Hey, if you ever want to talk I’m right here. And hey! How about I tell you about my eye sometime. Then we’ll be even.” Iskall said with a smile.  
Ren smiles back, and they hear the bell go off and head off to class as if it were any other day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh Sorry this is so late, we had to scrap an entire chapter unfortunately because it didn't make logical sense and...sucked. Only the best for your reading pleasure!  
> Also if you have any suggestions on fun event ideas or different things you'd like to learn and hear about this world, feel free to say so! I'd love feedback, and there's plenty of worldbuilding along with all of this character discovery coming! :)
> 
> Summary: Ren: uh oh Iskall: what? Ren: angst is about to happen Iskall: I've got your back *he is a dog* Ren: dude I'm so sorry you had to see that. Iskall: Bro- it's all good you were fine also I'm here for you Ren: Thanks :)  
> Edit: Uhm does anyone know how to get rid of the first note lol? Didn't know how it worked and didn't know they went beyond the chapter you wrote them in-


	3. I'll Take Thee Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pranks galore  
> many mistakes  
> laugh together  
> you'll find what breaks  
> /  
> There was a boy who saw blue skies gray  
> And all the time, he ran away.  
> But only once, did his brother say.  
> "I miss you Ex, don't leave. Please stay."

Content warnings:  
TW: *Implied* Suicide,  
CW: Jokes about drugs (no usage)

This story was written to be mostly fluff, but this chapter does deal with heavy topics. There are still happy moments at the beginning and end of the chapter, but the main plot has a lot of angst.  
If you would like to read this chapter without that bit, it still makes sense and is just a happier view of the same events. I will label the 3 sections of the story, so that if you want to skip the angsty part (part 2) it'll be easier! You won't have all the information, but your view will just be the same as Beef's instead of Xisuma's . Thanks for understanding!

\-----part one-----  
Beef rushes into the classroom after Bdubs, having stayed behind to sleep in. Today was grade 9 initiation day, when all the soon to be graduates came up with the best ideas possible to bully the younger kids. He couldn’t believe he had missed Doc’s text, but he was here just in time. “Come on guys, you’ve made it to the big kid part of school, congrats. But you’ve gotta prove your worth!” Doc says, an evil grin on his face.  
“Yeah, it’ll be fun! Y’know, we all did stuff when we were your age too, it’s time to pass on the tradition.” Etho says, grinning with amusement.  
“I mean, I dunno. Sounds kinda like a cult to me. You’re not gonna go full American highschool stereotype seniors on us, are you?” Xb laughs.  
“Hey, don’t feed their stereotypes! America is a fantastic place guys- we don’t need more of the stuck up idiot trope trust me!” Bdubs says in light offense.  
“Besides, you don’t really have much of a choice, peer pressure wise. It’ll be fun!” he adds, smiling brighter.  
“Well, sure I’ll join this cult! So Bdubs, got any red plastic cups?” Grian says with a grin.   
“Xb what have you brought. The shame! And to your own country!”  
“Well, I mean where have you been living for the past however many years? Certainly not America.” Xb replies  
“I- well true.”  
“Well then let’s shut up about these things and just go do something stupid!” Doc laughs as he pushes them all off and to a random direction.  
\----  
“Ok, so here’s the plan. Xb and Grian go into Mr. Chimneyswift’s class, and try to go unnoticed for as long as possible. Beef will also go in because “He needs something for TFC” in case anything goes wrong. We’ll all wait outside at the window and see exactly how fantastically this goes.” Etho says, laying out the plans.  
“Hey! When did I agree to be backup?” Beef asked, slightly irritated.  
“ I mean you didn’t but when we did 123-not-it while you were in the other room.” Bdubs says, treating it as if it were a final agreement.  
“Are you sure you guys are in grade 12 and not grade 6?” Grian laughs  
“Hush, child.” Doc says, patting his head.  
“Ok fine, let’s just go before they’re late and instantly spotted.” Beef says, rolling his eyes.  
They walk into the classroom, taking random empty seats and Beef asking to look for some worksheets TFC saw lying around. Mr. Swift was a tad confused, but agreed nonetheless.   
Beef picked up and stacked random papers, not having to try hard to overhear what was happening with his friends.  
“Psst- Hey you’re Skizz right? You knocked over the bookcase at the party last night?” Grian half whispers, not actually seeming to care if people hear.  
“Yours truly! Say, quick question. Why are you here? Did you switch classes or something?” he asks with a grin.  
“Nope. It's some sort of coming-of-age initiation thing. Nice to meetcha by the way!” Xb says slightly annoyed but mostly amused.  
“Ah! Nice! I did this sort of thing too once, got dared to eat every food in the cafe. Jokes on them though, I don't think they actually expected me to do it.” He laughs  
“Anyways, have fun! And uh, watch out because we started schoolwork early. Mister Swift can be pretty cruel with surprise questions. He always knows exactly what you don’t- its creepy.”  
“No Skizz, he just always knows what you don’t. Maybe he wouldn't if you studied.” Python jokes.   
“Hey, Xb! You’re from TFC’s, and this guy is too right? Grian was it? I used to be in his class too! Miss it a ton honestly, but its nice to have ya here!” he chips in.  
Mr. Chimneyswift looks around the class, locking eyes with Grian.  
“Hey, you're in grade 9, right? What was your name again?”  
“Uh, I‘m Grian.” he says, suddenly actually seeming nervous, pretty much a first for him.  
“I can't see your name on our attendance list, were you here yesterday?” he says suspiciously  
“Uhh yes sir I just transferred classes so the list is not updated sir.”  
“Well then I’m glad to see a grade 9 student made it to the excelled math program.”  
“Uh oh. What was that about surprise questions?” Xb whispers to Skizz  
“Ah, yes. Math. Something I’m very good at!” he nervously laughs.  
“Well then, why don‘t you impress us!” he says, smiling  
“Uhm, the square root of pi times 4,378 is the same as or less than the quotient of 567,892.3?”  
“Nice try, quotient means it’s been divided.”  
“Oopie.” he mumbled out with a nervous chuckle   
Before he can say anything else, Ex gets up from their seat without saying a word and walks off, out of the classroom.  
“Hey! Wait- oh well. I’ll just mark him absent I suppose.”   
At this point, Beef takes the chance to grab them and go.  
“Ah yes these papers sure are helpful! I’ll just be taking these two now, uh tutoring reasons!” as he rushes out.  
“Aw Beef! It was just getting good!” Etho joked, already somehow being at the classroom door.  
“Etho, weren’t you just outside??” Grian asks, confused  
“Yes I was.” He replies, as the rest of the nHo finally get there, having had run the whole way.  
“Jeez Grian, square root of pi? You were just asking to be wrong.” Doc says jokingly  
“Aw give him a break- not everyone’s a genius like you. Means you’ve got a big head, so stop acting like it.” Bdubs   
“At least my big head isn’t filled with air” He says, lightly knocking on his head.  
Bdubs scowls and Xb goes on to say  
“Hey, where did Ex go? And also, I didn’t think they were even in that class?” Grian asks quite puzzled.  
“Oh, Ex drifts from classroom to classroom, they said something about not wanting to stay in one place too long or they get antsy, started when X recommended they get transferred to the delinquent class. They’re over it now, but haven’t really talked about it since it happened. Who knows where they went, I think they just kinda decide that for themself.” Doc says with just a shrug.  
“Well, I think that was a fun little initiation! Congrats, you’re officially hermits.”  
“Hermits?” Grian questions  
“Oh, it’s just a name for everyone in the class. There was a grade 12 kid who basically ran the class when TFC was still new at teaching, and his nickname was hermit, so we all kinda took it up.” Bdubs explained the nostalgia he was feeling clear on his face.  
“He’s the reason why I joined the class in the first place! I wasn’t here for the first year actually, but I’m oh so glad I joined!”   
“Ok, now I’m sure this is a cult.” Grian laughs  
“Yeah, well it’s a fantastic cult to be in. And now you can’t back out!” Etho says with a smirk just barely visible under his mask.  
\---------part two-----------  
Xisuma paces down the hall, checking his dorm for the fifth time. Nothing. Searching the beds once again for some note, anything, he sighs and sits down. Keralis walks in and seeing the worried look on Xisuma’s face says  
“Hey! What’s wrong Sishwamyvoid? You’ve been walking around for the past three hours, not once saying a word! Tell me what’s on your mind.” . When Xisuma looks at him, he can see much more clearly that even under the mask, he’s not just worried. He looks scared.  
“Keralis, have you seen Alex today?” He asks, worry clear in his voice.  
“Uh, well actually no. What happened with them?” he says, going to sit next to him.  
“That’s the problem, nothing happened. they’re gone, no fights, no complaining, no heads up, nothing. I haven’t seen them all day. Even this morning, they weren't in the dorm. And you know how late Ex usually wakes up! Apparently they went to all of their classes, but they left their last one right as it started. I- I don’t know what’s going on.” Xisuma rants, speaking faster than Keralis had ever seen him do.   
“Well, did you try texting them?” Keralis asked, trying to hopefully calm X down.  
“I called 8 times. Didn’t text them while class was going, but I did during our lunch break. They didn’t reply.”   
“Oh yikes. Well, let’s look around. See what we can find!” He says, trying to cheer him up a bit.  
They walk around the school, asking teachers and his “acquaintances” if they’d seen them at all. They were about to stop asking when suddenly a boy with a yellow sweater came up to them.   
“I’m sorry, but I overheard you and I have to ask- Was your sibling in classroom 23 ? “  
“Well, yes at the time people said they left.” Xisuma says,a small bit of hope mixing into the worry that laced his voice. The boy looked at them with a saddened face, and said  
“I’m sorry, but I’m not sure you’re going to see them again.”  
“Excuse me, but what?”  
“Every year a kid disappears from that room, on this day, without fail. You can look through records if you can find them, but those students haven’t been seen since. There’s plenty of rumors about it, but mostly only from kids who were already in that classroom when it happened. You’ve aught to talk to them about it. I’m sorry but I’ve got to leave, good luck.” He says already around the corner.  
“Hey wait!” X says, rushing after him, but he stopped when he saw that the boy was already gone.   
“Uhm, Sishwammy are you ok?” Keralis says, patting his back more worried than ever.  
“Just a stupid rumor, come on. Let's find those kids.”  
As they find more and more kids, the stories keep getting more and more concerning. Every student story had one thing in common, ghosts. X hadn’t really seen a ghost before, but if you like in a place like MCYT you quickly learn to just accept the supernatural. As they listened to more kids, The kids started saying things along the lines of how all the students who disappeared were loners. That at first nobody had questioned their leaving. Every year they had always seemed to become hazy the day it happened. There was no warning beforehand. But then… Some of what they said started to hit hard. Xisuma, he became scared. They said they were depressed. They said there was never an argument beforehand, always silence. They had mentioned being lonely, even with their friends. That they felt alone. Every one of them had left willingly. Something they held dear was always found. Always with blood. Most of them stopped at this point, but a few had the guts to say  
“That day is known as day of the dead in local history, known for ghouls and trapped spirits. I think… I think they were drawn their to become ghosts. I… I can’t bear to think what would have happened if it was another day. She..sorry, I was thinking of my friend. I meant, your sibbling… is still out there. No matter what.” 

“No! You're wrong! Alex...they wouldn’t… No.” Xisuma yelled, Keralis standing there, shocked.  
“Shiswammy, how about we look to verify this. Look at school records? Newspapers?”  
“Yeah. Ok. Thanks for your help.” He says coldly to the kid.  
They look through books and newspapers, surely enough finding the exact same date every year for each student’s disappearance.  
“This one’s Taurtis, wait, Brian’s in this picture too!” Keralis says, pointing out Grian standing next to the missing kid.  
“This was a few years ago, he’d have been in 7th grade.” Xisuma says, his voice going soft.  
“But look! I also found an outlier, an obituary for a sweet old lady that dates one year before all of these students!” he says, picking up another paper.  
“Fantastic, we’ve got a lead! We should go talk to Grian first, but see if you can find any information that could be useful using it, well need to check it out.”  
“Like… where she died? It’s right here!”  
“How are you so good at understanding paperwork??”  
“Dunno, just look at the page and see it! Look into my eyes, nothing but my eyes. They see all!”  
Xisuma smiles, and they walk to the classroom. They spot Grian debating with TFC if birds could be considered mammals, and they walk over to them.  
“Hey G, could we talk to you for a second?” X says, showing urgency in his voice.  
“Oh, yeah sure. But Tfc, I'm just sayin, pigeons do have milk.” he says, as they walk to a quiet corner of the class.  
“Grian, you were in the class when Ex disappeared, right?”  
“Hey I know I wasn’t supposed to be there but- yeah. People have been saying they’re missing? You say they disappeared?” Grian asked in a quiet voice.  
“...Yeah. Uhm, we were also wondering if you’ve heard of rumors about classroom 23… Your 7th grade class was there, right?” He says in a nervous tone  
“That. So you looked at that? What did you see? My best friend gone? Gee whiz thanks for bringing that up.” Grian let out a sigh.” I- I’m sorry X. I don’t know where Alex is. As you can see I’m not exactly...understanding of what happened. The rumors, I don’t know. I try not to think about it. Only problem is that I just don’t think about him in general. That’s wrong of me. But… did you hear the bad ones?” He asked his voice harsh yet worried. X shifts uncomfortably and makes a strained face.  
“Yeah. Grian, did they apply to him? I really don’t mean to be rude but I...just need to know.”  
“...I don’t know X. I couldn’t believe it at the time. I don’t want to. But X, did it apply to Alex?”  
There’s a long silence between them, and Keralis slowly inches away until he’s talking with others instead. They don’t notice.  
“I don’t think so. I know they had troubles, I know I should have talked to them more, I know I should have listened, I know I should have…” he let out a shaky breath and whispered just barely audible. 

”I should have said sorry. For a lot of stuff.” regaining his composure, he continues  
“But I don’t think they would have done this. They… were unhappy with a lot of things, but one thing about Ex was that they are always grateful. Every bad thing to happen to us they’d predict, they always were a bit of a pessimist. And smarter than me in it certainly, I mostly opted for blissful ignorance. But they always did put a lot of value on what they did have. Even when mistakes were made, bad things happened, they were the one to tell me the good side. And right after they’d be telling me of that bad!” He pauses, trying to keep himself from gasping, taking deep breaths.

“I didn’t listen to them enough. Before and after the bad. But maybe now I could be better at changing, less stubborn. I’ve just got to find them, I know they didn’t just see all my negativity, they forgave me when I didn’t. And they forgave me for not being as accepting to him. I’m sure they’ll accept a late apology.” X says, finishing his rant.   
“Well, good for you Xisuma. I think I owe Taurtis a late apology too. I won’t just ignore him because it makes me feel bad anymore, he deserves to have his mystery solved. Thanks for showing me that.” Grian smiles, nodding and heading back across the room.  
“Keralis, where did you say that lady lived?” X says, turning to find him being interviewed by Etho and Beef.  
“Guys! For the last time, I don’t know any ghosts!”  
“But Keralis, you look as if you’ve seen one all the time!” Etho jokes, holding up a fake microphone to him.  
“Ok guys, story’s over. We’re finding a real ghost so maybe he can talk to you after we’ve finished.” Xisuma says, grabbing his hand and pulling him out the door.  
“Ok Sishwammy, the house should be outside the school grounds, over in the woods. I don’t think we’re allowed to go there though, especially without an adult-” He asked anxiously.  
“Then we’ll not tell anyone. All classes should be over, even the late ones, so nobody will go searching for us until curfew. That’s 9:00pm , so we should have 4 hours. If we’re quick we can find the most likely places for the hut and be back in that time. I assume you won’t say anything to anyone?”  
“Whoa, rule breaking Sishwammy! I won’t tell a soul. We should do this more often!” He stated enthusiastically.  
“That’d mean it’s necessary more often, so I hope not. But yeah, we can make it fun.”  
They sneak out onto the grounds, taking care to check for students or teachers just getting around before making a mad dash for the forest. They search for about an hour, before coming upon a clearing in the woods.  
“Sishwammy! This way! I think I’ve spotted something-”   
Before them is a small shack, looked to be abandoned for years. There are cobwebs all around it, but there are also tracks of wheelbarrows that have been moved, and spots where the grass hasn’t grown in the shape of a watering can tipped on its side, but no watering can. They slowly approach, seeing a giant flower garden with trellises with vines and grapes hanging off of them. They open the door to the house, it being unlocked, and find a small room, filled with floral patterns and blankets and throw pillows, and wooden carvings. Small, cozy and bright, but jarringly empty. On each of the tables there are photographs, the old lady and a boy and a girl, aged similarly to them. The girl’s face is faded nearly all the way in every photo, and the boy’s is surprisingly familiar.   
“How long ago were these taken-” Xisuma says, flipping one over.  
“July 2009. 11 years ago, when it should have started.” He muttered   
“And the mother died soon after, today’s date that year. I mean, I assume that’s their mother.” Keralis adds.  
“I wonder if they went to our school… We need to figure out who these people are.” X says, searching for more. Suddenly, they hear a laughing noise coming from outside. Distant, but there. They look at each other and rush out, Keralis grabbing a photo before he leaves. They run through the Begonia, purple Hyacinth, and Zinnia patches. The first thing they see is mist- though it’s a clear and sunny day. As they rush forward toward it, they hear a woman’s voice, humming a tune. From across the field, they make out a white figure, seeming as if she were made of mist. And behind her-  
“Ex!!” Xisuma yells, sprinting over to him and throwing his arms around him. Ex, wearing a flower crown and sitting among white chrysanthemums, quite clearly missing their mask, looks at them with a dazed look.  
“You look just like me!” They stated their voice seeming distant and breathy.  
Xisuma looks at them, suddenly afraid.  
“Alex, it’s Xisuma? You’re not incorporeal right? Come on!”  
“Alex?” they says, bewildered.  
“Excuse me, but are you friends with my child?” The lady asks, suddenly becoming more visible.  
“This is my sibling! He’s not your kid!  
“But… I could have sworn it was them… Where did you go sweetheart?” She says, turning away.  
“Ex! Hey, where...Where did your mask go?” He says, a tad brokenhearted.  
“I...I must have lost it. Hey. It’s you.” They say, looking up to him and smiling. They then promptly passes out.  
\-----------------------------

“Jeez...Why am I so hungry?” Ex says, waking with a headache. They looks around to see X and Keralis, respectively holding coffee and hot chocolate.   
“You show signs of having not eaten for weeks, though you obviously have. Do you feel tired too?”  
“Yeah...No energy. Could I get some tea please?” They say, rubbing their head.  
“Yup! Already got it, just in case. Might be a tad cold though, sorry about that.”  
“No problem, I’m a nether elemental and- oh. I’m too tired. Ugh. Oh well.” they say, sipping on the just over lukewarm tea.  
“So...Would you mind saying what happened? Why...why did you leave?”  
“Well, that’s what’s been driving me crazy. I had that lady haunting me for a few days, calling me another name and her ‘son’. Mostly tried to ignore her, but she was actually quite nice. She was...stuck in my head almost. Like a song. She said stuff to me like how proud she was of me, how she liked the outfit I chose, how I was smart when I got good grades on stuff. I did try and say something at some point, but I don’t think anyone I tried to tell heard me. And… She asked me to come home for dinner. And I just...did. I kinda forgot who I was, I knew I wasn’t her child but I didn’t really care at first. I know that sounds so stupid- But I mean, it felt like she really cared about me. And she didn’t know otherwise, I didn’t want to make her sad. She said something about how my sister had just disappeared- Maybe that was the girl who disappeared last year? But… I forgot I wasn’t her kid. It was weird. And- oh my gosh I lost my mask- Xisuma I’m so sorry-”  
“I’ve told you a million times over you don’t have to wear it Ex, I don’t mind.”  
“...Ok. But Can I have another one please?”  
“Sure!” Keralis says, handing him a dark red one.  
“Hey Ex...This is gonna sound stupid. But… There were a lot of rumors I really hated to believe about you leaving.”  
“Yeah?”  
“...They said you were suicidal Ex. It was my fault for not paying more attention-”  
“Hey! Nobody said it like that Shishwammy! Is… Is that what you thought?”  
“X! What the heck, I can’t believe you.” Ex raises their voice, clearly upseat  
“I wouldn’t do that, I can’t believe you’d think I’d do something like that. X, maybe I’m not always perfect and happy and all your crap but I’m not gonna throw my life away because some dumb ghost is haunting me. No. If you think I hate life, you clearly haven’t met me. “ they say, turning away.  
“Ex… I know. I just got scared. I… just wasn’t finished. There’s so much I've been too stubborn to say to you. I can’t believe I've been so selfish as to put it off this long. I’m sorry Ex. For antagonizing you. For being a jerk. For not listening, and for not believing you when it counted. I realise now that must have hurt more than anything.”  
“...You’re really gonna apologise? I mean- I appreciate it- but uh.” They nod at Keralis.   
“Now?”  
“Aww! I wanted to hear- Ah well. I’ll take your dishes If ya want.” He says, grabbing them and leaving.  
As he closes the door, he can hear muffled talking. A sob. Not sure from who.  
“I’m just glad they got things sorted out.” he says to himself, walking down the hall.

\---------An Hour Later----------  
\-----part three-----

X and Ex walk down to the cafe- and X texts Beef to join them. He’s one of the few students allowed to bake without adult supervision, and they suspected adults wouldn’t like to hear what they might say if they accidentally burn themself. He agrees, and they meet at the kitchen doors.  
“Why hello! So you wanted to cook, eh? Well, what will it be! I’m so glad you wanted to cook- nobody really wants to make anything outside of cooking classes- So what will it be! Comfort food- chicken pot pie- lasangna-”  
“How about brownies?”  
“Ah. Desserts. It’s always desserts.” he looks moodily off into the distance  
“My greatest enemy.”  
“Uhhh sure. Do you mind helping us make it though? I mean I guess we could make something else.”  
“Nah, It’s just that people always like making sweets for some reason. I need to practice my meals!”  
“I just like making sweets because then I get to eat them.” Ex says, shrugging  
“Yeah… I can see why people wouldn’t want roasted salmon for a snack. But sure, I’ve basically memorised the best recipe out there by now so it’ll be really difficult for you to mess it up.”  
“Hmm, the chances may be low but then again this is Ex...So…”  
“You get scared to touch anything over room temperature for fear of getting burned!”  
“And you ONLY touch something if it’s over room temperature! Usually at least 100 degrees!”  
“Don’t they have fire magic or something though?”  
“See X? I’m safe!”  
“Maybe you are! Not anyone else in a 10 meter radius!” X jokes   
“Ok, well then I’ll just take care of the hot stuff. Let me see- how about you gather the dry ingredients and just stir them for a bit? I’ll grab the mixer and crack the eggs for you. Ex, you can get the rest of the wet ingredients. Here’s the recipe!” Beef says, grabbing and flipping open a cookbook. It looks to be about 100 years old.  
“What- are we cooking brownies or potions?” Ex asked amused   
“Well… I may sometimes use some magic ingredients to add a little extra flavor. But you don’t have to worry about that.” he says with a wink. The two turn to give each other a look, then just shrug it off. However, when Beef is scolding X for his stirring movements, Ex’s curiosity gets the better of them. Keeping a finger on the brownie page so as to not lose track, they flip the pages to find that most of the recipes are mostly meant as a channel for a spell.   
“Just add magic- the cookbook. Let me see- ‘Just add Carnejian spices and depending on the flavors, this plant can effect your mood’ whoa- Hmm, these brownies should be sweet, right? Maybe… I mean there couldn’t be any harm in trying it-'' They see Beef turning to focus on his stirring work and quickly flips back to the right page.  
“Ex, let me guess. You stirred really fast in order to make it mix faster, right?”  
“Yeah?” they reply, putting the batter covered spatula right on the counter. Beef sighs, looking to the ceiling and gesturing vaguely.   
After being lectured on how to “fold the dough”, Ex goes searching for the plant. All the cabinets they look through seem mostly normal- when they spot one hidden within yet another cabinet that looks much older.  
“This has got to be it! Let me see- Kalimba, Galifrazian, Parquinnien, aha! Here it is.” He says, pulling out a small vial of ground spice.  
“Only question is...how much do I add?” he mumbles.  
“Ex!! Did you set the oven temperature to 450 degrees??”  
“That’s what the recipe said!”  
“Alex, that recipe was in Fahrenheit!! You’re gonna burn the bloomin school down!” He yelled as he tried to quickly cool off the oven.  
“How should I know, 450 fahrenheit or celsius- it’s both toasty! You know I’m bad at this-”  
Xisuma breathes calmly and his skin turns dark purple. He slowly breathes out, and the oven turns ice cold. He quickly returns to normal.  
“Huh. I don’t think I've ever seen you go end-y.” Beef says, sitting down from shock.  
“Jeez- you guys are worse than the nHo. Etho may eat everything in sight but at least they’ve never come this close to burning down the school. I- I’m gonna call Stress. From now on please, please stay with one of us at all times-She likes baking better anyways.” Beef says, pulling out his phone.  
“I’m just glad the batter wasn’t actually in the oven. Yay! Sweets despite failure!” Ex jokes.  
“I just hope I didn’t break the oven-” X says, inspecting it a bit. As he says that, Stress comes barreling into the kitchen.  
“Brownie time! Now! Wait- you haven’t used Beef’s recipe, right?” she asked frantically looking over the bowl of ingredients.  
“Stress there’s nothing wrong with my recipe. It’s just SOME of us don’t like 8 cups of sugar thrown in!”  
“Pshh- There's never too much sugar. But oh well, it’s too late now. Onto the baking bit!!” she exclaims. Before they put it in though, Ex pours just a tad of the magic spice in.  
“For science.” they whisper, deviously.  
As they all crowd around the scorching baked brownies, Ex quickly grabs one first.  
“Ex you can’t just take one that fast! They’re too hot and need time to become more solid-” Beef begins to warn  
“Remember? No problem with heat! Plus I like it when they fall apart that fast. It’s like my social life.”  
They grab one and as soon as they bite into it feels an overwhelming sense of...panic??and Safety? At the same time. Like hopeful heartbreak- overwhelmingly bittersweet.  
“What the heck was in this recipe Beef- it’s tangy!”  
“Didn’t you see the fruits I put in? I like to make my unhealthy stuff have at least a little bit of natural sweetening. I just maybe added a tad too much citrus to this one. It should taste fine though- you can add nearly anything to brownies and have it be fine.”  
“Yeah- anything- so about that-”  
X reaches out and grabs a brownie for himself and blows on it before taking a bite.  
“I MAY HAVE ACCIDENTALLY MADE POT BROWNIES.” Ex says, trying to smack it from his hand before he can take another bite. X immediately drops it and puts his hand to his head.  
“Oh my gosh. I’m gonna puke.” He says, running to the nearest trashcan.  
“What do you mean??” Stress says, waving her hands in exaggerated movements.  
“I- I took magic herbs because it said it makes you feel better! But this was’t sweet enough-”  
“I TOLD YOU!” Stress says to Beef, sticking her tongue out.  
“Hush!! What- where did you even get it from!?” Beef yells, a tad panicked.  
“A secret cabinet.” they mumble, looking down at their feet.  
“Dangit, not very secret anymore. Ex you should have said something, I’m not shy when it comes to baking spells but I’ve gotta know first! I could have told you- besides if you’d put in Parquinnien it probably would have actually worked. But for now… how do you feel?”  
“Queasy. Like I ate too much raw dough.”   
“Did you have any raw dough??”  
“No.”  
“Oh- uh ok then.”  
“Is this drugs Beef?” they asked slightly loopy.  
“Nooo! It’s not addictive- I mean, not technically. It can be endorphins wise. Like how listening to happy songs or being rewarded can be. It’s essentially free serotonin.” Beef replies, trying to calm things down a bit  
“Ah. Well that’s ok, I already have my brother for that.” Ex slurs being a bit too over dramatic with the whole pot brownie thing.  
“Awwwww.” Stress laughs.  
“Thanks Ex. I think you’re not always as stupid as you were when making this too. Love ya.” He says, promptly throwing up.   
“Well, I’m gonna take him to the nurse’s office now. Thanks for helping us bake stuff! Also thanks for putting up with us!” Ex says, helping X up.   
“Of course! Anytime!” Stress calls after them.  
“No problem, but uh- are you gonna help clean up the dishes??”  
They’d already gotten to the hall at that point. As they walked, their stomachs started to settle, but the feeling hadn’t subsided. They both felt...hope. Happiness for the future. Gratefulness for the past. They just enjoyed being together, walking down the hall. Without fighting, without depending on each other, peace. Though there was an aftertaste of uneasiness, a bit of worry, they put that to the side. Because right now, things were happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaahh I swear this story is gonna be mostly fluff- I wanted to build up to the angst a tad more but then realized 9th year initiation would have had to happen the first week- Next chapter should be very sweet so look out for that!
> 
> (To be clear Ex, is joking with the whole brownies thing. He mostly is acting how he thinks they'd make him act and not actually. It's mood enhancing, not making him loopy)
> 
> To the people who read the whole thing:
> 
> hahaha you get no context behind what they talked about and the mask thing :)
> 
> Also if even one person thought I'd kill off a character that fast, first of all sorry for your emotional state during that bit of the chapter haha whoopsies and second of all, lol nope.
> 
> Edit: Found out Ex goes by them/them pronouns (yes, canonically) so I fixed all the times they were refered to as 'he'!


	4. Joh no

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if I'm still waiting  
> for what happened years ago  
> maybe I've forgotten  
> the little truth I know

Joe, Cub and Cleo were hanging out in the library as it started to get late, frustrated about how little progress they had gotten done on their case. Cleo notices the time and says  
“You know what, there’s no way we’re making any more progress tonight. Now, we can either sleep or actually do something fun. But no more work!” She says, closing the history book they had all been hovering over. They all look at each other, and Joe says  
“Well, I’m not tired.”  
“Neither am I!” Cub agrees.  
“Well then!” Cleo says, pulling a book from the shelves.  
“How about I tell you guys… a ghost story?” She says, an evil grin upon her face.  
“I mean, why not! What’s the spookiest it could be?” Cub says, smiling but also looking around nervously.  
“Alright then! If you insist…”  
“Well- I don’t think you’d let me deny if I tried, so go right ahead!” Joe nervously laughs  
“I wouldn’t! So I shall begin! Now, It all started on a foggy night not too long ago…”

*The wind was howling, and the cold autumn air was stinging his face*

“There was a boy, about our age, who would wander the outdoors every night. He never slept, because for whatever reason he always seemed to be restless.”

*He saw a tree, and clouds just above it. Small creatures seemed to circle around it, he couldn’t tell if it was three or twenty.*

“And every night, he could see creatures. Small, flying beasts. Never clearly, but always behind some cloud or behind leaves. A shadow, almost.”

*He drew closer, despite his worry. Surely these creatures couldn’t hurt him, he would be fine. Right?*

“One day, he felt drawn to them. He saw a nest, and for whatever reason walked over to it.”

*He climbed the tree, huffing and puffing a bit, taking care not to step on weak branches. He always was a tad scared of heights, but he didn’t care. He couldn't come down now.*

“As he grew closer, he saw one. A flying mangled beast, rows of teeth and glowing green eyes. As he realised what they were, they all turned to him, floating in place for a split second. And as the moon rose to its highest position-”

*They attacked.*

*He struggled to keep his grasp on the tree, as he felt them swarm over him, clawing and biting. He stumbled backwards, letting go of the branch and crying out as he started to fall.*

“They lifted him up from off of the ground, so many creatures that all he could hear was their shrieks.”

*He tried swatting them away, now much closer to the ground they dropped him. And as they slowly disappeared, he saw venom. How the bites had drawn blood. A green substance, like nothing he had seen before. And Bright green blood.* 

“For the first time in years, he fell asleep. And some say, Whenever he walked through the hallways after that, and every conversation he had, his eyes were glazed over. He seemed to be...dreaming. And his blood is still bright green.”

The library stays silent for a second afterword, Cub and Joe hanging on her last words.  
“Well, that wasn’t too scary.” Cub says, jokingly.  
“Oh, I know. If you really want I can tell you the goriest scariest one I know!”  
“NO!!” Joe whisper shouts, being very clear.  
“Aww, you’re no fun.” Cleo teases, shrugging and looking to Cub.  
“Well then, if you want a scary story looks like you’ll have to tell one. Go on!”  
“Well, I'm not sure how scary it is, but I can come up with something pretty creepy. Let me see… 

There once were two kids, who loved ideas of magic. They believed, more than any of their  
friends, that magic would be the key to the future. They were warned not to meddle too deep into these spells and hexes, that they could be dangerous. But they didn’t care. They made a pact that no matter what, they would find a way to learn magic fluently. No matter the cost. One of them had been born a wizard, already having some spells come naturally to him. But only specific kinds, like plant magic and healing. He wanted to know more and expand on this knowledge to make it more useful. The other, was a scientist. He had no natural way of using magic, and only had been able before by channeling it through mystical places and objects. He was obsessed with understanding it, knowing that it broke all the laws he understood, and wanting to see how far it could take him. 

One day, they found a spellbook. And while looking through it, they found something that would change their lives forever. A creature. Eight words to summon it, ten to gain all the magic they would ever need. It was risky, and they had no reason to trust it would work. But they had been searching for so long, and they had gotten desperate enough to try it.  
‘Patron, I summon the, come to us now!’ they chanted, watching as what appeared to be some sort of...will o the wisp appeared.  
Rephrase possibly?  
‘Oh children, what is it that you wish?’ the creature cackled, staring into their souls.  
‘We wish to bind ourselves to you, let us spell!’ one said, being careful to only use ten words.  
‘As you wish then!’ It laughed, and just as the words had left his mouth they both started to see mist, and their heads hurt as a blue fog seemed to take over their minds. When they awoke, they found the creature was gone. Nothing left, except for a strange feeling. However, they quickly realised that that was not all it had left. For when one tried to grab a pen, it instead flew right to his hand. They had magic. Powerful magic. 

However, every so often they blacked out, finding themselves far away from where they had just been. Having done things they couldn’t remember. They would get visions, nightmares, of the monster watching them. Seeing their own bodies as they slept. It started to drive them crazy- was it worth it? What could it possibly make them do? 

As they started blacking out more and more, different effects were taking place. One friend started getting more and more greedy, constantly trying to learn the spells further, drawing away from the rest of his friends. The other refused to see how this could be bad, and instead of becoming poisoned himself, the shadow of his worst side would start to take over. He saw this side and what it was causing, and became worried, starting to form a plan to try and fix things.  
Summer was coming, and he knew that he’d have to stop things from getting any worse before a year had passed. 

He knew that he somehow was able to resist some of the evil tendencies, transferring them onto his shadow and not blacking out every time that his friend did. But he had fallen pretty far, and he wasn't sure how to get his friend to resurface. He decided that since it seemed to be based on willpower that he simply needed to get through to his friend. However, he wasn’t about to just hope that would work, so he prepared himself to face the creature’s will, to work against the pact he had made so long ago. 

He pleaded with his friend, trying to get him to make an effort against the creature, but nothing seemed to be working. At long last however, the boy just broke down, pleading with his friend. No longer using logic, but expressing how bad things had gotten. His friend filled with darkness… felt something. Hurt, a regret. Finally, he pushed through the spell. Almost fully in fact, all in order to comfort his friend. To say sorry. Some say that evil still haunts them to this day, occasionally taking over or affecting them, but for the most part they had managed to fight it. Though what the magic had done, that’s another story.”

“Aww, really? A happy ending? That wasn’t creepy, that was a life lesson! That they didn’t even learn! I mean come on, they got magic powers from a evil creature and the lesson they learned was that they could resist him and not have consequences?? Eh. whatever it was still pretty good though. I just would have told it a little different.” Cleo remarks, leaning her chair back.  
“Hey, they did have consequences! The whole regret and they did bad things bit? Also there was a cliffhanger on what the dark magic did! But yeah. Ah well. Joe, how about your story?”  
“Oh I bet my story will be even spookier than both of yours. Just you wait.” He says, with a knowing smile. Cleo scoffs and Cub shakes his head, but they seem intrigued nonetheless.  
“Once, there was a shapeshifter ghost. He wandered the hallways of this school, searching for people who still lived. He watched them, day after day, learning the way they speak. The way they look, how they act. The ghost would never make himself known, staying completely silent except for a few times when he would say things exactly how the one he haunts does, confusing them and driving them crazy. However, when he finally finds that he knows enough, the ghost appears. Only briefly, for as soon as he does, the haunted soul is banished to the afterlife, and who they used to be becomes possessed by the ghost. Forever living as they did, with nobody the wiser.” As Joe says this, a shadow creeps from the back of the room, nothing casing it. As the space behind him darkens, a figure seems to appear. Growing slowly bigger and more visible, standing directly behind Joe’s chair they can clearly see… Joe. Though slightly transparent, and a grin on his face. As they start to yell out, the vision quickly disappears, Joe suddenly starts twitching and then silence. Joe opens his eyes, them being white.  
“Howdy Cub and Cleo. How wonderful it is to meet you two!”  
Cleo shrieks and gets up from the her chair looking around and panicking, what was Joe then turns to Cub and says,  
“I can see your future friend, you’re gonna have male pattern baldness.” Cub looks back at him in terror and half jokingly says  
“That’s hot.”  
Cleo, finally finding composure and a large metal object, hits him in the head with her chair.  
\-------  
Joe wakes up, his head throbbing, to find Cub pacing and Cleo in an argument with his transparent friend.  
“Ow. I’m ok guys!” He says, getting up from the chair.  
“Joe! First of all sorry about that I’ll get you something later and SECOND OF ALL- WHAT IN THE EVERLOVING HECK IS THAT.” She says, pointing at the ghostly figure.  
“Ah yes, my bad for not properly introducing you. This is the Jhost! My incorporeal pal who just happens to be my doppelgänger! That possessing story wasn’t real, don’t worry. Or was it-”  
“Joe. Not now.”  
“Ah yes, no it wasn’t. But yes, I met the Jhost long ago when I was doing one of my nightly poetry readings! Apparently he can only be out at night so I was pretty much the only one around at the time. We have fun!”  
“Ok?? Why have you never told anyone???” Cleo questions further.  
“Well I figured that unless I could get people to make an effort to not sleep in order to meet him they wouldn’t believe me- So I just kind of...didn’t.”  
“He’s told me a bunch about you two, and how great of friends you are! It’s really nice to meet you!” The Jhost says, smiling cheerfully.  
“Really? I mean if you’re that excited to meet us he must have left some things out- but ok. So- you’re really a ghost?” Cleo asks as she looked over them.  
“Yup! I mean, I assume I wasn’t at some point, but I don’t really remember that. I’ve just always been ghosty I guess! Oh yeah, that’s also why I’m the Jhost! I don’t know my name so Joe just said I’m a Joe ghost. Hence the Jhost!” He says, smiling more and excitedly floating around.  
“Huh, that’s interesting. And you can’t wake up during the day either? Huh. What have you been doing all night? I mean, Joe doesn’t stay up the whole time, right?” Cub asks taking a quick glance at joe then back to the jhost  
“I mean he usually doesn’t- but yeah, I mostly read a lot. I also go through the classrooms and just look for anything interesting. I can’t really attend class, but at least I can get some idea of what you do!”  
“... You just read? Man, how long have you been here? You must have had to read the whole library over multiple times if that’s all you do-” Cub says jestering at the shelves of books.  
“I mean yeah, but I usually just reread the ones I like most insead of the boring ones. Besides, Joe will leave me poems and stuff he writes after we talk, so I always have new reading material!” The Jhost says, shrugging. The three all turn and give each other a look.  
“Hey. How about we try and find a way for you to be less bored in exchange for… uh, your friendship?” Cleo says, with a sympathetic smile.  
“I’d love that!” He says, bouncing with excitement  
“Great! Now- what on earth are we gonna do-” Cleo says, looking around the library.  
“Hmm, so you like reading, right? And all the new stuff Joe writes?”  
“Yeah, of course!”  
“Why don’t you do it yourself! You could make your own story instead of just rereading old ones, and in your own style not just Joe’s! I mean, I can probably get me and Cub to stay up tad more often too if you ever want to chat, but otherwise this could be fun!” Cleo says, picking up one of Joe’s blank notebooks and handing it to him.  
“I kind of need that-” Joe whined a bit in protest, but sighing and shrugging it off quite quickly.  
“Joe, you kind of have 20 others just like it.” Cleo says, smiling and shaking her head at him.  
“Oh! That’s actually a really nice idea. I don’t know why I’ve never thought of it before.” The Jhost says, reaching out and taking the notebook. It slowly turns semi transparent, and the Jhost says,  
“Oh yeah, I can’t really take the physical manifestation but it should go back to normal when I set it down so don’t worry! And...Hmm, I think I’d like to write a story. As much as poems or nonfiction is fun, I think I’d like to write about people. I can’t see them too often, and though I don’t remember when and If I could, I… I kind of feel like I miss them. Is that crazy? Missing friends and family you’ve never had? Maybe if I can try and find their experiences, I'll remember them. Or at least use what I learn about them to be better at making friends like you guys.” The Jhost looks down a bit before giving them all a sad yet hopeful smile.  
“Well, if you ever need constructive criticism I’d be glad to read it over.” Joe offers as he tried to rest a hand on the Jhost’s shoulder, but just phasing through it.  
“Dangit, I always forget about that.”  
Cub loudly yawns, trying to cover it up, but then Cleo starts to yawn too and it only becomes more obvious.  
“Sorry Jhost, but we’re not quite as used to staying up as late as Joe does. I’ll see you tomorrow, but I’ve got to go to bed.” Cub says, rubbing his eyes.  
“Same here, but how about we all come back here to the library at the same time tomorrow? Just hang out for a bit?” Cleo adds.  
“Oh, that sounds great! I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” The Jhost says, waving as the three leave the library. As they walk down the hall and get to the dorm’s boy-girl split, Cleo asks  
“Hey Joe? How long have you known the Jhost?” as she starts to open the door.  
“Well, just a little after I needed it and a little before it couldn’t help. Anyways, goodnight Cleo.”  
“Well...Alright then. Goodnight!”  
“Well, I’m glad you did meet them. Have a wonderful rest of your night Joe.” And with that they went their separate ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why hello! I'm gonna be honest- this chapter was a tad more spoiler-y for the future of this fic than I would have liked and I still would have liked to elaborate on some things more, but I'm just glad it got done honestly. Lots of forshadowing in this one- ooh and also the next chapter should be a tad more *funny* (no promises lol but I shall try)


	5. Important Info!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why hello! This may not be a full chapter, but you’ll still learn plenty of things from this bit. It may be important to future (and even elaborate on past) chapters, and it generally help you understand more about the school. Most of this is not stated in the chapters, but may be hinted at. More may also be added on later, so look out for that! Enjoy!
> 
> Also if you have any questions or want clarification on the plot or what is to come (with no spoilers) this is the place to come! Please do ask :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: This was written in the style of a student report. However, there are some things that the Hermits don’t know yet but you are enabled to! If a word is ||surrounded by these signs||, the hermits can't read it. It’s been blacked out.
> 
> If something says [Redacted], you'll learn it later in the story. You can come back and see the changes once it happens! It also may give more information than in the chapter you found out.
> 
> In the future, some things may be shown as having an [Edit] in which more information is given. This is in the perspective of a hermit, and is also written in red crayon though you cannot see. Just thought you should know :) .
> 
> We have the right to change our mind if something is not canon, it may be edited later in the future for clarity or so that it makes logical sense.

Case file 001- Classroom 77  
The Students of Tinfoil Chef

At the moment, we don’t know much about this school. But some of the things we do know, we’ll just write here! Mostly information about the present, since we don’t have any common history taught to us about the past. But so far, here’s what we know:

There are 2(4?) students and one teacher in room 77, in all 4 grades of the older section of the school. Though MCYT is for grades 6-12 (ages 11-18) the grades are split between 6-8 and 9-12 in order to make age gaps more manageable.

Here we have the full class attendance list:

Teacher: Mr. Tinfoil Chef (TFC)

Year 9-  
Xb Crafted (14)  
Grian (15)

Year 10-  
Joe Hills (16)  
Goodtimes with Scar (16)  
Zedaph (15)  
Hypnotized (15)  
Stress Monster (16)  
Iskall 85 (16)  
Cub Fan 135 (16)  
Mumbo Jumbo (15)  
Wels Knight (16)

Year 11-  
Keralis (17)  
(nickname: Zombie) Cleo (17)  
Tango Tek (16)  
Impulse Sv (17)  
Ren Dog (16)  
Xisuma Void (17)  
False Symmetry (17)  
I Jevin (16)

Year 12-  
Doc m 77 (17)  
(nickname: Bdubs) BDoubleo 100 (17)  
Etho s Lab (16) has skipped a grade  
Vintage Beef (16) has started school early

\-----  
Each of these students are a part of the Hermitian Mystery Club and are available to solve student’s crimes and discover what you may need to know.

These student’s qualifications include:

Copy of student file: Bdubs  
Gender: Male  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: Human (?)

School history:

Medical records:  
What seems to be a snake bite on his upper left shoulder, refuses to say what it is from.  
Seemingly suffers from narcolepsy  
Other:

Copy of student file: Cub  
Gender: Male  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: Human (?)

School history:  
Part of the school paper

Medical records:  
Small bald spot on top of head, unknown if it is natural or from a past injury.

Other:

Copy of student file: Docm77  
Gender: Male  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: Half (?) creeper

School history:  
Was given the opportunity to skip multiple grades but refused.

Medical records: A prosthetic arm and the right side of his face is replaced with metal and a fake eye, along with a lot of burn marks that his family and himself refused to share the story of. Claims he can care for them himself.

Other:

Copy of student file: Etho  
Gender: Male  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: Fae/Human

School history:  
Was allowed to skip two grades before joining MCYT, however he was held back in his 8th grade year due to failing gym and threatening to falsely accuse the gym teacher of harassment.  
Medical records: Other than a scar on his right eye and a few burns acquired at a young age nothing of interest.

Other:

Copy of student file: False  
Gender: Female  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: [Redacted]

School history:  
Students have reported threats and fights on her part, though no evidence has ever been found.

Medical records: Seemingly multiple scars and bruises from fights yet no record showing she ever got caught.

Other:

Copy of student file: Grian  
Gender: Male  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: Halfling/human

School history:  
Constant pranks, constant mischief. Often talking back to teachers and staff.

Medical records:  
A small light scar on his right cheek that is not often visible.

Other:

Copy of student file: Hypno  
Gender: Male  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: [Redacted]

School history:

Medical records:  
Seems to have a small limp at times although it is unknown if it is a permanent problem or not.  
Other:

Copy of student file: Impulse  
Gender: Male  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: Human (?)

School history:  
Has been in the student council in previous years.

Medical records:  
Nothing of interest  
Other:

Copy of student file: Iskall  
Gender: n/a  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: ???

School history:

Medical records:  
No diagnosis, yet seems to suffer multiple previously undiscovered illnesses. His blood is green, and is not healed in the same way that most are. Most Medicines have different effects on him than expected.

Other:  
Goes by He/they pronouns, but mainly he/him.  
Copy of student file: Jevin  
Gender: Male  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: Jevinicus slimeicus

School history:  
Will not hesitate to comment on if a student or teacher is incorrect, despite any context or how appropriate it may seem at the time.

Medical records:  
Seemingly does not feel pain nor can he be injured.  
Other:  
Can split himself up into smaller versions of himself but the small they are the younger they seem to act.

Copy of student file: Joe  
Gender: Male  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: Human (?)

School history:  
Has protested school rules and memorised the student handbook to a tee. Has been a teacher helper and volunteered to tutor younger classes.

Medical records:  
Needs prescription glasses and does not seem to sleep often. Has an unusually high pain tolerance.  
Other:  
Can often be found wandering the halls at night reciting poetry, it is still unknown if he is awake as he does it or sleep walking.

Copy of student file: Mumbo  
Gender: Male  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: Human (?)

School history:  
Has often missed classes accidentally due to hyperfocus.

Medical records:  
Hyperfixates on tasks and motivations, often forgetting essential tasks such as eating or sleeping. Has trouble paying attention. Multiple seemingly untreated redstone burns, dispute this his skin still feels as if nothing happened to it.  
Other:

Copy of student file: Ren  
Gender: Male  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: ||Warewolf||

School history:

Medical records:  
Has refused to speak about multiple injuries. Has multiple scars, some seeming to be bite and scratch marks.  
Other:  
Despite being a ||werewolf|| he has yet to show if he ||transforms on full moons||, it is unknown if he can and if he will be hostile.

Copy of student file: Scar  
Gender: Male  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: Wizard/Human

School history:

Medical records:  
Suffers from a unnamed disease that has yet to take its full effect on his body, it is unknown when the disease will finally take its full effect. It’s been predicted that once it does, he may be partially paralised. Until then, he has difficulty walking for long stretches of time and uses a feeding tube. He also is put on oxygen during the night. It mostly has not seemed to affect his mental or emotional wellbeing, though it is a big part of his life. It can cause stress and worry though, so he has an appointed therapy cat in order to help him.  
Other:

Copy of student file: Stress  
Gender: Female  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: Gnome

School history:  
In Cooking/baking afterschool class

Medical records:  
Seems to heal faster then most.  
Other:

Copy of student file: Tango  
Gender: Male  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: Nether Genasi

School history:  
Was suspended for 2 days along with another student for trying to start a fire in the janitors closet so they could skip a test they had not studied for.  
Is in the advanced engineering afterschoool course  
Medical records:  
Gets cold extremely easily, and has elemental type magic.

Other:

Copy of student file: Beef  
Gender: Male  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: You really don’t want to know

School history:  
In Cooking/baking afterschool class

Medical records:  
[Redacted]  
Other:  
Copy of student file: Wels  
Gender: Male  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: High Elf

School history:  
Partakes in afterschool self defense classes

Medical records:  
Multiple scars that seem to be from some kind of blade although none seem to be self inflicted.  
Other:

Copy of student file: xB  
Gender: Male  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: [Redacted]

School history:  
One of few students allowed in the lake without a adult or another student around

Medical records:

Other:  
One of the best swimmers in the school and can hold his breath for an extended period of time, unknown if he can actually breathe underwater or if he still needs air.

Copy of student file: Xisuma  
Gender: male  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: End Genasi

School history:  
A part of the student council, a teacher helper to TFC, part of the school paper.

Medical records:  
[Redacted]

Other:

Copy of student file: Zedaph  
Gender: Male  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: [Redacted]

School history:  
Takes advanced courses in engineering.

Medical records:  
[Redacted]  
Other:

Copy of student file: Cleo  
Gender: Female  
DOB: XX/XX/XX  
Race: Zombie

School history:  
Part of the school paper

Medical records:  
Numerous loose body parts and scars. Seemingly typical for a zombie though.  
Other:

\-----  
Roommates/Dormmates/Flatmates

Because this is a private boarding school, students share rooms with one another. Most of the students requested their own roomates, but some have been paired with random people. Not all roomates are in the same class, but many are due to knowing them prior to that year. Students don’t often change classrooms over grades.

This year’s Room listings-

-Cleo, False, Stress, Pearlescent moon  
-Scar, Joe, Cub, Bdubs

-Beef, Etho, Pause, Zisteau  
-Impulse, Tango, Zedaph, Skizz  
-Iskall, Mumbo, Grian, Ren  
-Xisuma, Ex, Keralis, Doc,  
-Wels, Hypno, Jevin, Xb

\-----  
Seating Arrangements in TFC’s classroom.

\-----

Magic exists, and there are various different ways of channeling it. Some of these include:  
Life- The magic gained from a plant, creature, or place  
Brewing-The magic gained from draining life magic and combining it in order to produce specific results  
Elemental- The magic of elemental planes and works such as fire, ice, water, earth, electricity, etc  
Mechanical- Any redstone or magic that can be detected as having an output that mechanically affects and powers something

Humanoids can channel all of these types of magic, but depending on the person some may be impossible to gain or use. One born without one of these sources of magic must gain it unnaturally which can often take a toll on it’s user. This is most common with Life and Elemental magic.


	6. Y'all Need Therapy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roses are red violets are blue you all need help and these kiddos do too

Tw: a story about the dangers of underage drinking as told by Joe  
someone says they’ll curse but doesn’t

The bell rang for lunchtime, and the students filed into the cafeteria. Xb was just sitting down with some of the hermits when Keralis says  
“So, are you guys planning on saying anything for therapy night tonight?” Smiling and looking around the table.  
“Uhh what? What do you mean therapy night?” Xb says, slightly confused yet mostly intrigued.  
Keralis just looks at him for a second and then says,   
“Oh! I forgot you’re new to Tfc’s class! Here, let me explain. A few years back some of us were joking about how we all needed therapy and I got sad because they didn’t have anyone to talk to. So I told everyone to come to Tfc’s class after classes were over and we could have a group therapy session! People seemed to really like it, so we’ve been doing it ever since. It’s really seemed to help some people too! We all just sit in a circle and whoever wants to talk can just rant about anything making them sad, and we all try to help! You should join us!! I mean- the only one who doesn’t so far is Tfc himself so- you’ve gotta!” Keralis exclaims.  
“Oh, well sure I guess. Sounds nice enough!” Xb replies as he looks back down at his food.  
“Oh yeah, I’ve actually got to tell Brian about that too!” He says, scanning the room and getting up to find him. “See you there sweetface!” he says, waving as he walks away.  
Xb looks around to the other hermits, kind of nervous about going.  
“Will they just- expect me to share stuff?? What level of stuff do I say these are my peers??” he mutters to himself. He clears his mind of it, just shrugging it off. It’ll be fine.

\-----

Xb walks into the classroom, looking around and seeing all of the tables and chairs pushed to one side of the room, leaving most of the floor empty. Cleo and Joe seem to spot him and wave him over, so he starts to walk up to them.  
“Hey Xb! First therapy of the year! Oh yeah and you’re in grade 9 so this is your first ever! Well, I can’t guarantee your views on half the class won’t change, but I can guarantee at least some of it will be funny.” Cleo snickers  
“Ah yes, by that she’s referring to my inner struggles and pain, of which I always share every meet.”  
“Aka the same ten stories every time that would *probably* be embarrassing if he wasn’t Joe. You’re in for a wild ride!” She laughs.  
“Oh, it seems to be starting soon! Come on, we all sit down in a circle so that we can all see each other. You can sit by us if you want!” Joe says, seeing the other hermits start to sit down. Xb goes with them, awkwardly sitting and looking around. Once everyone had sat down, Keralis got up and said,  
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back! I’m Keralis and this is- the first group therapy of the year! Woo!!” everyone gives a bit of a small cheer.  
“Now today we have two friends who haven’t been to one of these yet, Brian and Xb! So just be aware this is their first time! You’ll soon catch on don’t worry! Just hop on and start talking any time you like!”  
“Woo! I’m ready to learn your trauma!!” Grian all but yells as he plops himself down on the floor. Keralis laughs and says,  
“Alright then! So Joe, would you like to start us off?”  
“Indeed I would! Tonight, my peers, I shall educate you on the dangers of underage drinking, and why you shouldn’t do it! I shall be doing this by demonstrating a story of regret!  
It all started one day when Doc and I were about to dare each other to do all sorts of crazy stuff. I was about to make a bet on how many times I could cry separately in the span of a minute but then Doc pulled out a full bottle of alcohol and bet me that he could drink twice as much as me. Now kids, in this sort of situation you should always say no! Underage drinking can severely damage young minds and can really mess you up, but me deciding to put all of that aside because I thought it might be funny, agreed. Now, I don’t know where Doc got this or how many times he’d had it before, but I should have probably guessed that if he had access to a full bottle that I was a tad out of my league.   
Now I shall explain to you what had happened to me, after I had finished my first few sips I had felt as my liver start to slowly shrivel into nothing and watched as my vision started to swirl. Now, that is nothing compared to how it made me act! At first things seemed to be fine then the next thing you know I'm hugging a small tree in a pot confessing my love for it in Shakespearean.”  
“He doesn’t actually remember this, I just caught it on video.” Doc says, holding back laughter  
“Shush, let me finish then you can share the video. Now where was I, ah right, when i had awoken the next morning I had discovered that I was now legally married to the tree, and yes the marriage is going well.But I also had the worst headache I’ve ever had in my life, Including that time where Cleo decided to sing “the song that gets on your nerves” through the entire time I was taking an honors English writing formal test. ”  
“Here, you may not be all able to see it but the audio is good enough”  
“Oh potted plant my fairest love, why do thou wilt at thee? Thine leaves are the most lush and green that one would ever see! *hic* also you’re hot.” the bad audio recording of Joe’s voice plays.  
\-----  
After they all settle down, they hear some yelling noises coming from the hallway, coming closer to the door. Suddenly the door slams open, showing Ex yelling at their phone.   
“Sorry I’m late everyone! May not be in the class but I sure as heck belong here too. The reason that I took so long is that I've got a special guest here tonight that took a lot of convincing to get here. But don’t worry, if anyone needs therapy it’s definitely him! This is my online friend, I met him a while back through video games and X, he’s more of a brother to me than you ever will be.”  
“Ouch.”  
“Anyways, I’ve got him to use his camera too so you all better appreciate it. Say hi to Hels everyone!”  
Everyone turns and waves to the camera, saying variations of “Hi Hels!”  
“Excuse me what.” Wels says, going a tad pale and staring at the phone.  
“You! Wels??? What the heck, you go to this school???”  
Everyone turns in confusion, knowing Wels hadn’t mentioned anyone or anything about his life before going to the school, They were all just wondering how on earth they knew each other.  
“Uh, what’s going on?” Ex says, looking to their bud  
“Dude, that’s my brother!”  
\-----  
The Hermits could hear the two from out in the hallway, Wels yelling at Ex’s phone of which he demanded to take for a few minutes.  
“Well, uh, at least it looks like they’re both gonna need therapy over this…” Ex says, glancing over to the door.  
“Well… speaking of apparent brothers, I’ve got a question for you two in the meantime, if you wouldn’t mind.” Grain says, looking at them as well as Xisuma.   
“Why do you two wear those masks all the tim-” Grian starts, promptly getting cut off by all the hermits giving exaggerated motions or coughing, very much trying to show that this was a question best unasked.  
“ Oopsie.” He finished. Xisuma looked around to the hermits and just gave a sigh,   
“It’s alright Gri. It’s plenty of reasons. I don’t mind explaining. Well, first off I’ve got this sort of magical illness. I’m an end elemental, so I draw magic from end type things. Alex, or Ex I guess, they’re rather nether-y. Well, I have a lot of breathing troubles with standard overworld air, and I wear my mask to help minimise that. Basically magical asthma. Ex doesn’t really have that, but they wear a mask anyways. I don’t really know why.”  
“ I wear a mask for the same reason as you X, minus the medical bit. Keep going to that bit.”  
“Right. Even if I didn’t need the mask or got better, I’d still keep wearing it. That’s mostly because I just like the anonymity. You all don’t need to know what my face looks like, we’re friends based off of more important things than what we look like. It’s just a comfort to have some control over that I guess.” Xisuma explains.  
“Alright X, that’s great to know! Why didn’t you say so sooner though??” Bdubs asks, slightly confused.   
“Well, I didn’t think it was that important to know. You knew about my Illness, so I didn’t feel the need to explain. Grian didn’t though, so I did.” As he finished talking, Wels came through the door, with the phone in his hands.  
“Well, that’s all sorted. So, yes I have a brother, no we’re not gonna talk about my home, and yes we’re chill with each other. Just had some things we needed to clear up.”  
“Boy am I glad it’s therapy day though because Wels you’re not gonna stop me from telling them how you literally changed your number and didn’t give it to yoUR OWN BROTHER before leaving for this fancy private school! Dude what the heck. Also I am not used to filtering myself so don’t blame me if I curse or anything. Sorry.” Hels says, voice coming from the device.  
“You did what Wles!!” Cleo says, clearly enjoying the drama. Wels sighs,  
“Sorry Hels. I had reasons. I’ll give you my number after this is over, ok?” Hels jokingly puts on an offended face,  
“After all these years- oh brother I thought you would have cared about seeing me again! I mean- I have been the one stuck here remember? And yet no empathy. Tisk tisk.”  
“Ah yes, because I’m clearly the one with no empathy. Anyways, I’m not really ready to talk about this at the moment. Does anyone else want to go?” The Hermits are silent for a second, and Iskall whispers to Ren  
“Hey, maybe leave out some bits but I think it’d be good for you if you didn’t bundle up all of how you felt on werewolf things! Obviously don’t if you don’t want to but I think some talking would be good for you!” He says, encouragingly. Ren nervously looks around, getting a bit anxious but ultimately deciding to say  
“Uh, I think I’d like to speak a bit.” Getting everyone’s attention, he tries to think of a way to put what he’s about to say.  
“Well, something that I’ve noticed becoming a bigger part of my life is that I’m a tad of a perfectionist. I mean, not project-wise but almost character wise. Basically, I’m kind of scared to mess up. I know that the best things in life come from surprises and accidents, but I really don’t want to think about all the things that could happen if I mess things up. I don’t want my creativity to translate into something that’s worse than the original idea! I try and make things better, but change isn’t always better. At my old home, tradition was a pretty big thing. People were nice, but if you screwed up the tiniest of things they just didn’t look at you the same. Like they were patronising you. Or worse, like you’re just a ticking time bomb waiting to mess things up. I’ve come to kind of not like what I can’t control, because what if it is a bad change? I don’t know, maybe I just need to learn to lighten up a bit. I know it sounds weird because I always seem to be the most relaxed one in a group, but I just wish I could be the person I strive to be. I want to be relaxed. I want to be positive. It’s harder to think it than to act it. But yeah, that’s my rant.”  
The hermits sat in silence for a few seconds before Keralis finally piped in. “well I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to tell us!”   
“Yeah, and you know you don’t always have to be perfect around us, we won’t judge you.” Xb pipes in  
“And it’s perfectly normal to dislike not having control of things, especially with your reasoning behind why.” Iskall said  
“Thank you, I’m just glad to be able to talk about this with you guys. I really appreciate that I don’t have to worry about you guys not accepting that sort of stuff.” Ren says, smiling back at his friends.   
“Well, that seems like about all the time we have for today! Thankfully it doesn’t seem like anyone else wanted to go, but if you did you can always talk to me about it or just ask me if I can make sure you can talk next session!” Keralis says, wrapping up.  
The hermits nod in agreement before they all got up and started leaving a few staying back to talk to one another, xB smiled to himself as he headed to the door, as he walked he let his mind wander a bit to what may happen at the next meet and if maybe, just maybe he could trust them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha this chapter was supposed to be out 9 days ago but I forgot to publish it rip
> 
> also in this fic Etho and Ren are cannonically 4'7" 1/2 and Doc is 6'4" so do what you will with that knowledge
> 
> also there will be more therapy chapters, every 5 chapters or so :)
> 
> Edit: Changed Ex's pronouns from he/him to they/them


	7. Sleep-E-E's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> forget all your anxieties,  
> the night will calm your mind  
> sometimes we all just need a break  
> Just talk about your life
> 
> Don't ever fear your anger, for your fear just might come true  
> Please look beyond your clouded judgement, you'll then know what to do

\-----  
Ok, there may be no direct shipping but there is a small bit where they joke about each other being hot so- if you have an aversion to platonic "flirting" (for lack of a better word) you have been warned!   
\-----

Etho was walking through the hallways, at a scandalous 9:02 pm. The curfew for being in your dorm was at nine, but he wasn’t really concerned. After all, he was just going to quickly return a gardening book he’d borrowed from Stress. He knocked on the door, and Cleo answered.   
“Hey Etho, what are you doing here? Pretty sure you’re not supposed to be in the girls dorm right now.” She says, curious  
“Just returning Stress’s book, I should be back in no time.” He says, spotting Stress from inside the room. She spots him and he holds the book out to her.  
“You know you could’ve just given it to me tomorrow! But fank u <3 “ She says, taking it and flipping through the pages. In the background, they hear a noise and look up to find a teacher who they don’t know quickly pacing towards them.  
“Uh oh-” Etho says, thinking of how he definitely should be moving right now and yet staying still nonetheless.  
“Excuse me! But are you a girl?” The teacher says, glaring down at Etho.  
“Uhhh, I could be? If you want?” Etho half whispers, shrugging a bit.  
“Very funny. Now, care to explain what you’re doing halfway into these girls’ dorm room after hours?” She says, as Cleo tries to slowly close the door and Stress puts her foot in the way before it closes.  
“He was giving me my book back!” She says, holding it out and pointing to the cover. The teacher holds her hand out, and Stress gives it to her. She skims over the pages, then hands it back.  
“You should have given her the book around a half an hour ago, you realise this, right? There have been no afterschool activities for the past hour at least, you could have easily gotten back to your room on time.”  
“Sorry Ma'am, I just forgot. I thought I could make it back in time.” Etho says, slowly turning pale  
“...Alright. Well I’ll let this slide, but I’m going to talk to your teacher about this. Who’s homeroom do you have?”  
“Tfc, oh I mean Mr. Chef. Sorry again.” he says, just standing there. He walks off, and quickly pulls up his phone and texts the nHo groupchat:  
\-----  
The Weeb (Etho): H E L P  
The Weeb (Etho): WHY  
The Weeb (Etho):Nooooooooooooo  
The Weeb (Etho):HElp iwas in thw girlsdorm  
and got caought ny a teachero h no  
Doc-in-croc (Doc): You good?  
Mother Dearest (Beef): have you seen the amount of spelling mistakes no he’s not ok  
The Weeb (Etho):Not his is sobadei dont like thi sa ack  
Doc-incroc (Doc): ok- i’m gonna wake up Bdubs  
Mother Dearest (Beef): he’s gonna be madddd   
Mother Dearest: Good luck  
The Weeb (Etho):im don  
The Weeb (Etho):*m dn  
The Weeb (Etho):*i’md one  
The Weeb (Etho):I AM DONE  
Doc-in-croc (Doc): Beef I think he might be done  
The Weeb (Etho):SHUT  
\-----  
Etho finally gets to his dorm and instantly walks past Beef, Pause, and Zisteau and collapses on his bed.  
“Not having a good time?” Beef says, plopping down beside him.  
“ Fun fact, I don’t like getting in trouble.”  
“Says the one who puts ‘sorry I broke your computer’ post-it notes on all the teachers computers for fun.”  
“Yeah but I’d never get caught. I don’t do things if I think they’ll result in me getting caught. And now I got caught for not doing anything wrong really.” He says, muffled by pillows.  
“Hm. yeah. It’s self care time.” Beef says, pulling out his phone.  
“What do you mean self care time Beef? I’m not going to put on a face mask”  
“It exfoliates the skin! But no, I meant emotional self care! If you’re this stressed about one run in with a teacher, you need some help. I mean- you need to take some time to ‘reflect’. So, I’m inviting Doc and Bdubs over for a sleepover.”  
“Beef you’ve been wanting to do a sleepover ever since school started.”  
“And it’s exactly what you need! Now, let me just kick our friends out. “ He stands up and half whispers to their roomates something that quickly gets them to pack up and quickly say “Yeah, we’re gonna stay at Millbee and Mc’s for the night. Good luck on your chemistry test!”  
“Chemistry test?”  
“Nevermind that.” Beef says, with a smile. Suddenly their phones start getting a lot of notifs in rapid succession, coming from the group chat.  
\-----  
Shoe implants (Bdubs): etho you better be emotionally and mentally traumitized  
Shoe implants (Bdubs): my bedtime was 2 hours ago  
Shoe implants (Bdubs): Doc used SMELLING SALTS  
Shoe implants (Bdubs):help this is assault hes force-feeding me coffee  
Shoe implants (Bdubs):i hate this  
Shoe implants (Bdubs): i don’t think this much coffe is healthy im so sleepy wait its magic  
Shoe implants (Bdubs):what now i cant sleep but have the same drowsiness wtf  
Doc-in-croc (Doc): for the record it’s not supposed to do that he’s just special i guess  
Shoe implants (Bdubs):hUH whats thAT Mean special that im the only one who gets 8+ hours special?  
Shoe implants (Bdubs):i need to sleep  
\-----  
By the time that last message is sent, the two had arrived at the door.  
“You know, we’re supposed to check with a teacher before switching dorms for the night, this is doubly as rebellious. Why not be aixous about this?” Beef says, opening the door to Doc dragging a complaining Bdubs inside.  
“Well nobody actually cares, it’s just a school, rule. Nobody’s gonna barge into our room and say ‘aha gottem’ and put this on our record or anything. ” Etho explains.  
“So, are we just gonna talk about your ‘incident’? When did this irrational fear of punishment start? Let me guess, childhood?” Doc says, sitting down  
“Ha ha. Also yes. But yeah I just really don’t like confrontation. My parents just weren’t really fans of ‘making mistakes’ or ‘doing things for childish reasons’. They just kinda yelled a lot. Now I don’t like yelling I guess.” He says, unearthing himself from under his blanket.  
“That sucks man. Everyone has fears like that, it’s understandable.” Doc says, trying his best to comfort Etho.  
“What do you fear Doc? That there’s a math problem you can’t solve?” Bdubs snickers.  
“Nope. But I do fear plenty of things. I just don’t get scared often. I mean, I’m scared of the inevitability of the death of humanoids and nuclear fallout, but I try not to think about it too often.”  
“Oh hush, those are things everyone would find scary. I meant something like Etho!” Bdubs elaborates, yawning.  
“Hm. Well, I am irrationally scared of loosing more limbs. Can be pretty paranoid about that. Also most cats. As a creeper, it’s part of my genes.”  
“Ha! They’re just little kitties! Why are you scared of them?”  
“Have you seen the way they look at you with those beady eyes? They could take out a grown man if they aimed for the eyes. And they can jump that high!” Doc suddenly rambles.  
“Well my fear is much more sensible. As much as I do love sleep, I do have narcolepsy so sometimes it’s not exactly by my own will. And I hate it when I don’t actually get rested from sleeping- but anyways- I’m scared of falling in a coma. It could happen! What if one day I get so tired I don’t wake up?? And just have nightmares forever! Terrible!” Bdubs says, being slightly over dramatic.  
“I’m scared of becoming a serial liar!” Beef chimes in  
“You’re sure you’re not one already?” Etho says, a tad skeptically  
“I- ok. I’m not really scared of lying. But I am scared of people not trusting me because of it though, that’s why I only tell harmless lies!”  
“You told Iskall you spilled an invisibility potion on his fish instead of telling him it died! He still has the empty tank!” Doc says, exasperatedly   
“Harmless lies!” Beef just repeats.  
“Anyways, talking about fears isn’t gonna do anything to make us feel secure. So let’s tell all our secrets instead! Come on, truth or dare or you’re a coward!” Beef says, picking up a soda bottle from the floor.   
“We can spin this to see who asks who truth or dare!” and motions for everyone to sit in a circle.  
“Sounds fun enough.” Doc says, spinning the bottle. It lands on Beef and he asks  
“Truth or dare?”  
“Dare!  
“Alright, try and have an argument with the wall. Not loud enough to wake anyone up though.”  
“It’s my time to shine.” Beef says, getting up and facing the wall.  
“Hello, how are you doing?  
The wall just sits there  
“What, so you’re not going to respond”  
The wall silently stands, cold and unmoving  
“You know, this conversation seems to be a bit one sided!”  
The wall stiffly remains the same  
“Watch your tone! How dare you say that about my grandmother!”  
The wall stands tall, towering over him.  
“Insecure!? Says the one who refuses to move! You just sit around all day holding up the roof! What are you, Atlas?”  
The wall blankly stands.  
“Ok, that was a low blow. Idiotsayswhat?”  
The wall remains still, and also flatly remains there  
“Ha, that’s what I thought. Bye, nerd.” and then he sits back down.  
“Did you really just end winning a fight by saying bye nerd?” Bdubs laughs  
“Hey, at least I won. Anyways, time for me to spin the bottle.” He spins it, and it lands on Etho.  
“Ok! Truth or dare?” he asks  
“Hmm, truth!” Etho says, pretty confidently  
“ Why do you hate the Pillsbury Dough boy so much? You mentioned it one time but never elaborated.”  
“Aw man, I don’t want to say cause then you’ll just take advantage of it” he laughs  
“Ok, so when I was younger my bellybutton got caught in a lint shaver-”  
“What’s a lint shaver?” Bdubs asked  
“Uhh, it’s a electric shaver meant to shave off the parts of fabric that stick out on your clothes. Except, instead of shaving fabric it cut part of my bellybutton off. And ever since that, people had found out that I hated it when people touched my bellybutton. So they’d always try and poke it, and then say ‘hehe!’ like the pillsbury dough boy. I hated it so much- it was traumatising.So don’t you dare try it.” Etho said, grabbing a pillow and putting it under his shirt despite saying that.   
“What, you don’t trust us?” Doc laughs, while writing down a note on his phone.   
“Because there’s no reason to doubt us respecting that, clearly.” Bdubs says, glancing at Docs phone to see he’d written  
“ NOT BLACKMAIL ON ETHO: One Pillsbury dough poke and he is not happy”  
“Sure. Anyways, time for me to spin the bottle I suppose.” he says, as it spins and lands on Bdubs.  
“Alright Bdubs, truth or dare?”  
“Dare! I’m no coward, go ahead do your worst!”  
“I don’t think you want my worst Bdubs.”  
“Say it!”  
“Ok, then I guess we’ll get to see you become a coward. Kiss the hottest person in the room! You won’t.”  
Bdubs pauses, then looks around the room.  
“Doc?”  
“Uhhhhhhhhh Bdubs??”  
“Move, I need to get to the mirror.”  
They all laugh, but Bdubs really does go over and kiss the mirror.  
“Wow, narcissistic much?” Doc chuckles  
“Wow, jealous much?” Bdubs retorts  
“Etho do you know how badly that could have backfired?” Beef laughs  
“Well, even if it did take a turn I at least had pretty good reason to believe I'm not the person in the room who Bdubs considers the most attractive.”  
“What’s that supposed to mean-” Bdubs questions  
“Well, I am the one in the room who feels compelled to use a face mask for a reason, and also I’ve kinda noticed that most people in the school consider you as kinda a himbo Doc-”  
“They consider me a what now-” he says as Beef roars with laughter in the background  
“Bdubs, who DO you consider the hottest person in the room besides yourself?” Beef says between giggles  
“OK- If we’re doing this it’s not just gonna be me! You all get to dig yourselves into this hole too!” Bdubs says, mildly annoyed.  
“Ok sure.” Beef laughs  
“Ok. I don’t think this is fair because Doc is nearly 18 and also actually works out, I mean he has MUSCLES. All of us are twigs compared to him- no homo though.”  
“Ok- but Etho has that mysterious anime boy charm. You can’t deny the charm.” Beef laughs  
“I dunno- angry Bdubs is lowkey adorable, especially if its about him being short cause he actually seems to shrink at hearing that.” Etho says, smiling from under his mask  
“NO I DONT”  
“See?”  
“I mean- guys. Have you seen Bee’s eyes? Pretty dreamy.” Doc snickers  
“Ok moving on- before things get too crazy. Bdubs, spin the bottle so we can move on with our lives.” Beef laughs  
“Alright then, truth or dare…” Bdubs says, spinnings it until it lands on-  
“Etho!”  
“Hmm, I pick truth.”  
“Alright, what’s the most illegal thing that you’ve done?”  
“Hmm, when I was younger I used to make my own fireworks. Somehow got a hold on a lot of materials after seeing fireworks shops in the states. It was so cool, I just had to try! Thankfully learned how dangerous it was without actually getting hurt.” He casually states.  
Doc casually pulls out his phone once again, jotting something down.  
“Alright, “ Etho says, spinning the bottle  
“Truth or dare Doc?”  
“ How about a dare!”  
“Sure, hmm. How about pretend to be one of us for a minute straight? I’ll flip a coin, Heads for Bdubs, tails for Beef, if it lands on the rim you get to impersonate me.” he says, getting one from his desk and flipping it. It lands on heads. Doc immediately says  
“Ok, I’m gonna need you guys to stand up to get the full effect.” and starts walking around on his knees.  
“VERY FUNNY DOC.”  
“Oh, I’m Bdubs and I get irrationally angry cause I have such low self esteem that my fragile ego can’t take a joke about anything! Also, the things I decide to get mad over are all things I can’t control, not anything actually worth taking pride in!” He says in a bad American accent.  
“Let me go sleep for unholy amounts of time even though oversleeping makes you just as tired as undersleeping, if not worse, and then complain about not being able to sleep more! I spend over half the day in bed, clearly the most productive of things to do! Watch as I proceed to be embarrassed over my own hobbies and interests despite there being nothing wrong with them! My need to be seen as a man is so powerful that I don’t let myself enjoy things like romcoms or interior decorating which I very obviously love!” He says, clearly not holding back. He stops when he sees the glare coming from a very pissed off Bdubs.  
“Ouch.” he says, not amused.  
“Sorry man, but you’ve got to stop this unhealthy mindset. You just end up getting mad at everything all the time, including yourself and that’s just not right. You obviously know how great you are, so stop trying to prove it man. We know.” He says, suddenly getting serious.  
“Do you guys really think of me like that? Jeez. Some kind of a kind of a stuck up kid with anger issues and an inability to enjoy the things I like? I’m not that stupid.” Bdubs says, completely seriously.  
“Well I didn’t mean it like that!” Doc says. Etho and Beef just look away, somewhat uncomfortable.   
“I was just trying to encourage you, not put you down. Working on your flaws is not bad cause you acknowledge they exist. Everyone has flaws, I don’t care that I have flaws!”  
“Oh! Really? Cause you’re so tough and don’t care. You know Doc, sometimes I think you have flaws too and try to encourage you but I don’t say it in a way that’s pointed and rude! Maybe you should work on being less blunt and self-righteous!” Bdubs says, starting to yell.  
“Ah yes, Bdubs! Because you’re never rude or self-righteous. Why are we yelling Bdubs? This conversation is pointless.”  
“No it’s not! You hurt my feelings! It shouldn’t matter if it was true, you’re my friend and you hurt me! That’s not something I'm gonna just say ‘oh well, it was a joke or he meant well’ to!”  
“... Oh. Aw man Bdubs, I’m sorry. I saw that as you being aggressive but really that was me I guess. I should have known better. “  
“You’re not just agreeing so that I’ll drop it? I know you do that sometimes Doc.”  
“No. I’m sorry.”  
“Well I am too. So that’s good.”  
“Yay! Sorting out problems in a healthy and positive manner!” Beef chimes in.   
“Oh, yeah. I guess we did do that.” Doc laughs  
“Dang, I’m so glad we can do that. Why don’t more people do it?” Bdubs says  
“Cause they crave drama.” Etho pipes in.  
“Who doesn’t though?” Beef says, pointed at how especially drama loving all the nHo members were.

\-----at 3 am-----

Beef turns and looks across the room, to his friends.   
“Psst- are you guys up?”  
“I don’t know, ask the staying awake potion that isn’t wearing off. My eyelids and mental state are in pain.” Bdubs grumbles  
“I’m asleep. Shh.” Etho says, without a hint of tiredness in his voice. Doc pulls a pillow over his head.  
“Guys, what’s the meaning of the universe?” Beef says, met with multiple cries of frustration  
“Beef it’s 3 am, some people have normal sleep schedules.” Bdubs says, grouchily  
“The meaning of the universe is to preserve life. Happy?” Etho says  
“Then why is there so much destruction-”  
“Because if there was no obstacle there'd be no point.”  
“There’s reason to do plenty of things that don’t have any obstacles! Like speaking!”  
“True- But not all people can speak.”   
“Wait- Is Doc asleep or just ignoring us?” Beef questions  
“I don’t know, knock on his metal arm or something.” Bdubs whispers.  
“Bdubs, I’m not suicidal and if I were I would seek help, not listen to the sarcastic dares of my friends.” Beef states.  
“We should draw on his face with a permanent marker.” Etho suggests. The three sit in silence, and then Bdubs dares to say,  
“Sure. “  
They get out of their beds, and start searching for stray markers around.   
“I have some sharpies, multiple colors too!” Beef says, taking them from his desk.  
“Those should work.” Etho says, also taking out his emergency stash of glitter. They all walk over to Doc’s bed and Etho says  
“This is a bad idea. So, who wants to go first?”  
“I will, I guess.” Bdubs says, taking a black sharpie and drawing a flower.   
“I- Wow. He’s actually asleep.” Beef says, giddily. He starts writing, ‘Himbo’ in giant letters, making sure to not get any marker on the metal side of his face. Etho sprinkles some glitter on, as if it were some bedazzled kind of freckles. He then writes ‘pretty princess <3’   
“I- we should get jobs as tattoo artists. This is beautiful.” Beef giggles, trying to keep quiet  
“We really should- but we should probably stop now too. I’ve already gotten enough glitter on Pause’s bed- Oops.” Etho replies.  
“Hey, I’m glad we could all just talk and unwind today. We really needed some nHo time! “ Bdubs says, walking back to the bed.  
“But I also think the awake spell is wearing off, so I’d like to say: Try anything and I’ll tell people you don’t like Maple syrup.” He says, half jokingly. They mock gasp.  
“Oh, but how could you be so cruel? But yeah, don’t worry. Goodnight!” Etho says, to an already sleeping Bdubs.  
“Whoops, too late.”  
“Goodnight Beef!”  
“Goodnight, Etho.”  
“And thank you, I needed this.”  
Beef let out a soft laugh, “We all did. I’m glad we could help make each other’s day better.” And with that the two drifted to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This book was based on Scooby-Dooby-Doo belive it or not- now it's just turned into a magical boarding school au lol
> 
> Also yes of course there's a sleepover chapter- how could we not?

**Author's Note:**

> I seriously want to thank my friend Muso for helping me with so many of the ideas! She honestly came up with half the concepts for the au, I just happily put them to paper haha.  
> Honestly I'm so excited to wright more-


End file.
